We Were Just Kids (When We Fell in Love)
by JemilyPLLGleek78-10
Summary: Spencer and Aria meet in the sixth-grade and are instant best friends. As they grow up, there seems to be something more than just friendly love between the two girls. While dealing with a bigoted parent and other major problems, can Spencer and Aria overcome everything to be happy together? Future Emison/Haleb/Sparia. T for bullying & future homophobic slurs. #1 in Sparia Trilogy.
1. Author's Note

**Hey guys! I am putting this author's note up because I am super close to getting this story posted. I'm thinking sometime within a month or so; I want to have five chapters finished and I have almost three completed chapters right now. I am going on vacation with my family next month for a week to the beach, and will bring my laptop but I am not sure how much writing I will get done.**

**Now on to the note. This story is based on my Sparia wedding one-shot, in the PLL one- & two-shots story. It is not necessary to read that one-shot before this story, however, the one-shot does give a short overview and will let you know about what I am going to do with this story.**

**This is going to begin as a young!Sparia friendship story. Spencer and Aria are 11 and in the sixth grade. There are several things different between this story and the show. It will also have similarities to my Little Liars story. I don't want to give away certain things but I will say this…**

**_Everyone will eventually be in this story. They, beside the main girls, are:_**

**Jason - Alison's big brother  
Melissa - Spencer's big sister  
Mike - Aria's little brother  
Girl Dilaurentis – Jason's little sister and Ali's twin sister  
Caleb  
Toby  
Extra siblings/family/friends, etc.**

**_Things that will stay the same (between young!Liars stories):_**

**Haleb & Emaya – Toby and Caleb are one year older  
Samara/Zoie, Maya/Charlotte  
Samara shows up but does not date Emily**

**Jason and Melissa are the older siblings, now 6 years older, not 2  
Alison has a twin sister  
Emily may have other siblings  
Caleb gets adopted, has three siblings – Nicole, Avery "Ava", & Michael**

**Alison does not go missing  
Mona does not go missing during Thanksgiving  
****Mona will be put into Radley  
****Emily is not put in the hospital  
No Charles/CeCe, Dollhouse Ian, Dr. Sullivan, etc. crap**

**Wayne does not die  
Mel and Wren stay together  
Emily comes out to the girls**

*****more to come**

**_Things that are different (between young!Liars stories):_**

**Alison has more siblings than her twin sister and Jason  
Mel and Spencer will have more siblings**

**No Spoby  
No Ezria  
No Paily**

**Sparia meets first in sixth-grade, then the other girls later  
Spencer's parents are…decent  
Spencer's mom has siblings**

**Ashley/Tom do not split  
****Ella and Byron split up - Alison and Aria know about Meredith**

*****more to come**

* * *

**Now on to the important part. I have decided to make this an ****_~A-free_**** story because I am unable to incorporate the messages in with this story – I can't do certain texts, i.e. ones pertaining to Ezria, Ashely stealing money from the bank, Alison going missing, etc.**

**I will have Mona cyberstalk them, and do something that will be revenge for Alison bullying her at a younger age. Mona will stalk her and the girls, messaging them threatening things, calling with hang-ups, etc. She will be sent to Radley, where she will receive proper help and treatment, but will not escape.**

**Please follow this story if you are interesting in reading. Any questions, requests, etc., please leave them in the reviews or PM. :) Within a month or so, the first chapter should be up! Thank you for reading, and I am looking forward to doing this story!**

**Also, I want to give a shoutout to _Momma Duck_. They requested the Sparia Wedding one-shot, and that was the inspiration for this Sparia/Haleb/Emison multi-chap story. So thank you a lot! I know, without a doubt, this story would not exist without that requested one-shot. :)**


	2. A Nice Shade of Brown

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters. I do own all characters not associated with the show, including OC siblings, friends, teachers, etc.  
Spoilers: None  
Rating: K+**

**Note: Oh, my god! Here is the first chapter! I cannot even put into words how excited I am about this story. I am having SO MUCH FUN! ****This story is based on my Sparia Wedding one-shot in my story PLL one/two-shots.**

**Note 2: I am going to change the ages. Jason and Melissa are now six, not 2 years, older than Alison and Spencer. Charlotte Dilaurentis is 18 months younger than Jason, putting her currently at 16½ years old while he is 18.**

**Shoutout to my followers so far:**

**Rain Angel Wolf  
erwint0920  
Armybrat8  
pinkcrazyness  
Boris Yeltsin  
Momma Duck - shoutout!**

**Thank you! I hope you all enjoy this. :)**

* * *

_**Early-September 2001**_

* * *

**_*Rosewood Elementary School*_**

It's recess time once again and Miss Lyndsey's class of sixth graders take off out of the doors to the playground.

11-year-old Spencer Hastings stands at the top of the stairs leading down to the play area. She would rather be in the library reading a book instead of out here but sadly, she has no choice.

Spencer heads towards the monkey bars. She actually enjoys this piece of equipment. Unlike the other kids, even those in her class, she does not need to use the steps to reach the bars.

She times herself to see how long she can go from one end to the other and back again before her arms tire out.

She gets back and forth three times.

And then, she sees _her_.

Her classmate, Aria Montgomery. She's small for her age, but Spencer only knows her as _the artist_. Because Aria's paintings and drawing are _so realistic_. Spencer watches the young girl for a moment. She's sitting on what looks to be a jacket and she has her sketchpad and pen with her.

Spencer continues to watch her until she notices a group of boys approaching her. The young girl sucks in a breath of air when she realizes who they are, – the Class Clowns, also known as the Playground Bullies.

Before Spencer can do anything, one of the boys, 11-year-old Steven Morgan, had ripped the book from Aria's hands causing her to jump up.

"Hey! Give that back!" Aria yells, jumping up and down, reaching for the sketchbook.

Steven holds it in the air, just out of reach of Aria's hands, before tossing it to his friend, 12-year-old Logan Knight. Logan doesn't catch it though, and Spencer watches as the sketchbook lands face down in a mud puddle.

The next thing Spencer is aware of is Logan's voice as he begs her to let him go. She blinks and realizes she has stormed over to the group of kids, and now has Logan's ear in a pinch hold with her fingers.

It's something her older sister taught her to do. It's not fighting or hitting, but it will get the bully to leave her alone. And because it's only a pinch hold to their ear, she won't get in trouble for it.

Once she realizes it is affecting Logan, she pinches harder. "Logan, Steven, Alexander, I want you to apologize to Aria for ruining her picture,"

Steven scoffs and looks at her, saying, "And what are you going to do if we don't, Hastings?" Instead of giving a verbal reply, Spencer shoots her other arm out and grabs Steven's ear also.

She twists both boys' ear, drawing Steven to tears, though the 11-year-old will argue profusely that it was the wind blowing dirt into his eyes, therefore making them water.

"I _said_, apologize to Aria for messing up her picture."

"We're sorry for messin' up your drawing, Aria," Logan finally says and Spencer rewards him by letting him go. "Yeah! I'm sorry, too. It won't happen again." Steven quickly agrees and Spencer releases him also.

The three boys scurry off as Spencer bends down in front of the younger girl who now has her muddy sketchbook in her hands.

"Are you okay, Aria?" Aria nods even as tears keep sliding down her face.

"They _ruined_ my picture!" She cries and Spencer finally looks down at the book. It's a drawing of a house with the lawn decorated, some clouds in the sky, and a sun shining down on the four people standing front and center.

Spencer sees that it would have been a beautiful picture…had it not been covered in mud.

But Spencer can't bear to see Aria so upset, so she gently takes the book, looks at it for a second, and then says, "Oh, no, they didn't. You know, the mud really gives it a nice look. You have that nice…shade…of brown that you normally would not find with any ordinary paint."

Aria stays quiet for a second, and then she bursts out laughing, because what Spencer has said is just so…_weird_ and _crazy_, that it is exactly what she needed to hear. Her laughter causes Spencer to start giggling and soon, Aria's tears have stopped completely.

"Come on, Ar," Spencer wraps an arm around the smaller girl, the nickname just slipping out. "Let's go see if we can go inside and fix your picture." The two go to the duty teacher and tell her what happened. She agrees to let Aria and Spencer go inside with the sketchbook.

Everything is going well for a while and the three boys think they have gotten away with another day of bullying. That is, until they are called from their classroom and down to the office.

It turns out, that not only was the sketch Aria was making for her parents, but it was also an assignment in her art class, one that was due in three days, on Friday. The class had been given 2 weeks to complete it and now, Aria had nothing to turn in.

So, because of this, Alexander, Steven, and Logan all three get in major trouble. They have to sit out of recess and have lunch detention for the rest of this week plus all of next week.

Aria is lucky she has an understanding teacher, who gives her an extension and lets her redo the assignment.

* * *

**_*End of school*_**

Later in the day, when school lets out, Spencer meets Aria outside on the playground. The kids are let outside to play until it is time for bus riders to go to the bus barn or the car riders to be picked up.

As Spencer approaches her, Aria smiles shyly. "Hi,"

"Hey, Ar! What's up?" Spencer slings an arm around the shorter girl and brings her in for a hug.

"Nothing," Aria replies quietly although she, too, is having a hard time keeping the smile off her face.

"I have to get on the bus soon, but I wanted to check on you and make sure you were ok about earlier…I know that you were really looking forward to giving that picture to your mom and dad."

Aria takes a moment but eventually nods and smiles. "Yeah, I am. I have part of the house done in my new picture and I already redid the clouds and sun, so I am really far along. I think I can have it done by next week, just in time for mom and daddy's anniversary."

"That's great, Ar!" The two sit and talk for a while before the whistle is blown. All kids riding the bus line up by their grades and head down the hill to a small parking lot where the buses are parked. And Aria continues drawing until she sees her mom pull up in the parking area that is meant for car riders.

"Hi, Mama!" Ella looks taken aback by the cheerful mood her daughter is in, but she smiles anyway and soaks it in. It's so different from the attitude Aria's had the last couple weeks about hating school and the kids picking on her and how she has no friends.

"Hey, baby, did you have a good day?"

"Yes! It was really fun. Are we still going for ice cream?" Mike notices them then and he runs up to the side of the school and grabs his backpack, before running over to his sister and mother.

"Yes, if that is what you two would like to do." The two agree and they load up in the car and head to the local ice-cream parlor.

* * *

**And there it is! The first chapter is just short and sweet. I will be update again in a few weeks. I'm working on chapters 4 & 5 because I redid them, so as soon as I get those done, I will have 7 chapters prewritten. I will update, write a chapter, update, etc. to keep that #7 consistent.**

**I really hope I do a good job as this is my very first Sparia relationship fic. So please review, and let me know what you thought! :)**


	3. Sleepovers & Dancing

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters. I do own all characters not associated with the show, including OC siblings, friends, teachers, etc.  
Spoilers: None  
Rating: K+**

**_Replies to reviews (chapter 1):_**

**Guest****: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Here is #2. :)**

**Momma Duck****: Thanks for the review. I'm sorry you were sick! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. Lots of Sparia fluff. :)**

**Boris Yeltsin****: Thank you for the review. Here's the next one.**

**Thank you to those that reviewed! And I would like to welcome my new follower/favoriter Yvette23. And also ****hana preston ****[it would not let me do the period without erasing the word] & CptClurr, for following. :)**

**Notes: This is 7 pages and over 4,500 words long. Some more Sparia fluff. Hope you like.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_**Early-September 2001**_

* * *

The rest of the week goes well for Spencer and Aria. They talk to each other every day. Spencer arrives before Aria, due to her riding the bus in the morning, and she waits on the playground for the younger girl each day.

Today is Friday, which is a free day in art. The kids are allowed to get the paints, markers, crayons, clay, pastels, anything they want out and play or draw with them, as long as they have their pictures ready to turn in.

Since the incident earlier this week, Aria and Spencer's art teacher, Ms. Lisa, decided that Aria needs to work on her drawing for 15 minutes, instead of all period, because the reason for her not being able to turn her drawing in is out of her hands.

"Hey, Ar!" Spencer calls out as Aria is entering the room. She was kept back in their classroom for a few minutes and arrived late to Special Class.

"Hi!" Aria gets her sketchbook out and begins to work on her picture. She now has all the clouds, sky, sun, and grass finished. The house is halfway finished and she will probably have it done by Monday. Then, she will work on drawing the people and putting in the details (like birds, trees, etc.) all next week and will have it finished by next Friday.

After 15 minutes, Aria finally puts away her sketchbook. She now has 30 minutes left of art class to draw or paint whatever she would like.

She turns to her left and finds Spencer watching her. The older girl has no supplies in front of her, which means she has just been sitting there for the past 15 minutes.

"Spence?" Aria giggles a little as the other girl shakes her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. Spencer turns away, not wanting Aria to see her blush. She can't believe she was caught staring at her best friend!

"Sorry, what?" The young Hastings blinks to clear her thoughts.

"I was gonna ask why you don't have anything out?"

Spencer just shrugs. She decides to just tell Aria the truth. Besides, what's so bad about wanting to watch your best friend draw in her sketchbook?

"I was just watching you, Ar. You concentrate very hard while you are drawing. Your picture is looking pretty good, by the way!"

Aria looks down, hiding a smile. "Thanks. But do you wanna get the stuff now? We can paint together."

"Okay! I'll get the paints and brushes," Spencer says. "What colors do you want?"

"Umm," Aria makes her "thinking" face, something she has done since she was a toddler. "Get red, blue, yellow, white, and brown. We can mix to make the other colors."

Spencer jumps up and goes to get the colors. She makes two trips and ends up with three plates, one with blue, yellow, and red paint, one with brown and white, and one to mix the colors on, and a cup of water with paintbrushes.

Aria sketches out their names in big, block letters. She does "Spencer Jill" and "Melissa Josephine" for Spencer and her sister, and then does "Aria Marie" and "Michael Vincent" for her and her little brother, fourth-grader Mike Montgomery.

"Here you go, Spence!" Aria hands Spencer the "Spencer" and "Melissa" pages. "You can paint your sister's name in her favorite colors and give it to her on her birthday next month!"

"Thanks, Ari! These look so cool. I wish I could do block letters like you can."

"Well, maybe I can show you this weekend!" Aria suggests as Spencer had invited her over for a sleepover on Wednesday. She's never been invited to a sleepover before, always preferring to draw in silence rather than play games on the playground.

This resulted in kids not taking an interest in her or inviting her to birthday parties or sleepovers. Now, however, she has a friend who admires her ability and the dedication she puts into her drawings, and Aria happily accepted Spencer's offer of a sleepover for the _entire_ weekend. She is even going to go to church with Spencer and her family on Sunday.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." Spencer and Aria are going to ride the bus home to Spencer's house this afternoon.

Aria came prepared and everything for this weekend, even bringing her _Care Bears_ sleeping bag and matching duffle bag to school. It is waiting in the office, being watched by the principle, for Aria when she and Spencer leave at the end of school.

* * *

**_*That afternoon…Spencer's house*_**

"Mom! Daddy!" Spencer calls out as she, Aria, and her older sister, Melissa, walk into the house. They find Veronica in the kitchen, preparing a snack for the kids.

"Hey, sweetie! How was school?"

"It was good! We had free day in art, and Aria got some more of her picture drawn." Veronica knows all about what happened to Aria's last sketch.

Mel just scoffed and shook her head, as she has heard about Alexander, Steven, and Logan from Spencer in the past. She has also had to deal with Alexander and Logan's older brother and sister, Brian Smith and Charlotte Knight.

Brian and Charlotte are every bit of the stereotypical High School Jock & Cheerleader. They are the It Couple of the school. Brian is the football Quarterback and Charlotte is the cheerleading captain.

Brian is a player. He charms you into thinking you are the One and Only girl for him, only to have a new girl behind the bleachers the next day. He's slept with half the school, smarts off to the teachers, and doesn't turn in his work. They won't actually fail him, though, because they do not want to deal with the football coach.

Charlotte is the typical Cheer Captain. She's the Snobby, Know-it-All. She gets straight As, has every guy hanging over her, and has parties every week only to get a 100% on the tests she didn't study for.

Overall, Mel is not surprised that Brian and Charlotte's little siblings are also assholes-in-training. Melissa is just glad she is graduating this year and won't have to deal with their older siblings any longer.

"Well that's wonderful!" Veronica says, smiling at Aria. The younger girl smiles shyly.

"Mom, I'm going to show Aria my room, okay?"

"All right, sweetie. I will bring the snacks up in a bit. What would you girls like to drink?"

"I want apple juice, please, Mom," Spencer answers. She turns to Aria, "What do you want to drink, Ari?"

"Um…do you have milk, Mrs. Hastings?" Aria asks shyly.

"Yes, we do. And please, call me Veronica, sweetie." Aria just nods and smiles once more. She and Spencer head up to the older girl's bedroom to drop their things off.

"This is my room," Spencer says proudly. "Look at my bed, Ari." Spencer jumps up on her bed, which is shaped like a horse carriage with drapes on both sides. It has little "doors" that open up to a three steps leading up to the bed.

Spencer stands up and opens the door and then holds out a hand to Aria. "Would you like to ride in my carriage, M'Lady?"

Aria sets down her bag, giggling and nodding her head. She takes Spencer's hand and lets the young Hastings "help" her up the stairs. Then, Spencer "climbs in" and goes to the foot of the bed.

"You can see against the pillows and just relax," Spencer tells her as she pretends to take the reins to the invisible horses. "And where would like me to take you, Miss Montgomery?"

Aria giggles as she puts on her "thinking" face. "How about the Ball? We could put on our most beautifullest dresses and sparkly crowns and high heels and dance _all night_."

Spencer nods approvingly. "Well, if we are going to the Ball, then we will need _real_ dresses!" She hops down from the bed and then holds a hand out our Aria. Once the younger girl is out of the carriage, she goes over to her closet.

"I still have some dress up clothes from a couple of years ago. They should fit you. And I can wear one of my Sunday dresses. I have sparkly sandals and crowns also!" Spencer looks through some princess dresses that she has hanging up and comes out with a _Snow White _dress.

"Here you go! Try this and I will find you some sandals to match." Aria takes the dress and goes to the attached bathroom. She is so happy that Spencer has this dress because it means Spencer does not think they are too old or that it is too babyish to play dress-up and imaginary games. Now, Aria will not be too shy or nervous to show Spencer _her_ dress-up clothes at her house.

The _Snow White_ dress fits perfectly, and looks amazing on Aria since she has her hair just past her shoulders. It comes with the headband so Aria puts that on too.

Aria opens the bathroom door and finds Spencer in a Belle costume with matching gloves speaking to her mom who is holding a plate of cookies.

"Wow!" Spencer's eyes widen when Aria steps out. "You look really pretty, Aria! Doesn't she look beautiful, Mama?"

"You do," Veronica agrees coming over to Aria and adjusting the headband just a little bit. "Spencer's old dress fits you perfectly."

"Ari, Mama made us some cookies and here is your milk." Aria thanks her and sits down beside Spencer, taking her cup of milk that has a lid and a swirly straw attached to it.

"I have one of these cups! It's purple but it has a red lid because we lost the purple lid and the red cup." Aria makes an "hmm" face and Spencer giggles.

"I like this one," Spencer says gesturing to the green cup Aria is holding. "My sister Mel has one too. It's a blue one but she doesn't use it very much anymore."

Veronica tells the girls that she is going downstairs and will be in the study and that Spencer and Aria can stay in the house or, if they want, they can go to the barn that is in the backyard.

Spencer picks up the plate of cookies, "Mama made peanut butter cookies and chocolate chips ones. After we eat, we can go to the Ball."

Aria freezes in mid-reach and snatches her hand back causing Spencer to frown

"What's wrong? They're not hot if you're worried about that, Mom made sure to let them cool before bringing them up to us."

Aria shakes her head. "No, it's not that." She pauses. Should she tell Spencer the truth or just risk it? Usually when she is tells a friend she is allergic to anything with peanuts or peanut butter, – she can't touch it or eat it, or anything that has peanuts/peanut butter, – the friendship seems to die out, as the kids are unwilling to stop eating and stay away from peanuts.

But Spencer is looking at with such concern that she feels it may be ok. Besides, she doesn't have her Epi Pen and she does not want to have to go home early.

"I'm um…I am allergic to peanuts and peanut butter." She mumbles. "I'm really sorry. I know I should have told you earlier, but I didn't know your mom was making cookies and if you don't want to be my friend anymore, I understand."

Spencer immediately puts down the plate and wipes her hands on a towel. Then she turns to Aria and asks, "Why would I not want to be your friend anymore?"

The artist just shrugs. "Because every time I said I have peanut allergies then no one wants to be my friend 'cause they don't want to stop eating peanuts or being around me after eating a peanut butter sandwich without washing their hands first."

Spencer sighs. She doesn't even know what Aria is talking about but it still makes her mad. Why would kids stop being friends with someone because of something they can control, like being allergic to peanuts?

"Ari, of course I still want to be your friend! That's a dumb reason anyway, I would never stop being your friend just because you're allergic to nuts." Spencer stands to go to her bathroom. She quickly washes her hands and then comes back, wrapping an arm around Aria.

"Let's go tell me Mom, ok, Ari? That way she knows and she can make us a different snack to eat." Aria nods, feeling, for the first time, a lot more comfortable about this, and follows Spencer downstairs.

They go to the study and find Veronica there, doing some paperwork.

"Mama," Veronica looks up to see Aria hiding shyly behind Spencer and her youngest daughter looking very concerned about something.

"What's the matter, baby?"

"Aria has something she needs to tell you." Spencer says this because she knows Aria needs to be the one to tell Veronica about her allergy.

Veronica senses the importance of this conversation, so she motions for the girls to come to the side of the room, where Veronica has a couch, some chairs, and a table with some toys and books and a few other kid items (Veronica is an in-home child therapist).

"It's ok, Ari. You can tell my mom about it. She won't be made, I promise." The three sit on the couch.

"OK. Um…well, Mrs. Ha- I mean Veronica, I need to tell you that, um…well, um… I need to tell you that I cannot eat the cookies you made because I am allergic to peanuts or anything that is made with them like peanut butter chip cookies or peanut butter."

Aria thinks that Veronica is going to react like all of her other friends' parents. They'll say they are ok with it, but over time, will stop inviting Aria over because they don't want to go out and buy pricey "fake" peanut butter or stop having peanuts, peanut butter, or anything with peanuts in it in their house.

"Well, that's not good. But, it is ok." Veronica says, making sure the young girl knows she is not mad because she senses that Aria may think this. "I'll just make a different snack for you and Spencer. I do have some questions, though, ok?"

Aria nods, feeling more and more comfortable about this. No one else's parent offered to make another snack for her before. They usually say she can go to the kitchen and get one, that there are cookies or chips in the pantry, or popsicles in the freezer, etc. But they have never actually offered to make her a different snack.

"Alright, now, can you tell me what we need to do to avoid the peanuts? Can you touch them, smell them, or is it an avoid-at-all-costs type of allergy?"

"I can smell them and be ok. But I can't touch or eat them. And if someone eats a peanut butter sandwich or something with peanuts in it, then touches something and I touch that thing, I will have a reaction. They have to wash their hands before I can be around them."

"I have an Epi Pen for if that happens, though." Aria adds as an afterthought. "But I didn't bring it with me. I forgot it at home."

"Thank you for telling me, Aria. I will also talk to your mom and dad, so they can tell me about your Epi pen and how to use it or what to do during an allergic reaction, alright?" Aria nods once more so Veronica stands up, sends Spencer to get the cookies and throw them away, and then takes both girls to the kitchen to get a different snack.

Afterwards, they go back upstairs to finish their game.

"Right this way, M'Lady," Spencer says. "We are going to arrive at the Ball in 15 minutes…Here we are!" Spencer gets out of the carriage and helps Aria out. She goes to her CD players and turns on some music.

"Now we can dance, just like a real Ball. Please, may I have this dance?" She holds out a hand and Aria giggles as she nods and takes Spencer's hand.

"Yes, you may."

"Now, you take my hand, and move like this," Spencer guides Aria through a simple dance. "Yes, like that. This is the very first dance my daddy taught me how to do. We did it at the Father-Daughter dance in third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade."

"This is really easy." Aria comments.

"Now it's time for the hard part – the dip! I'm going to hold your hand and place one arm here *she puts an arm around Aria's back* and then I am going to guide you to bend backwards." They try it and Aria gets it the best on the third try.

"Wow! You are a fast learner. It took me like four or five times to get it with my dad."

The two spend the next several hours going to different "dances", watching TV, drawing, and having a spelling bee where they open to a random page in the dictionary, close their eyes, pick a word, and then ask the other to spell it.

**_:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/_**

**_*Later in the evening*_**

Later, after everyone has had supper, - vegan lasagna, which Veronica and Spencer surprised Aria with, – Spencer and Aria enjoy the last bit of dusk by running around and catching fireflies or "lightning bugs" as Aria calls them.

Then, they go in to get ready for bed, they're not going to sleep yet, but they still change into their pajamas. While they are upstairs getting changed and Aria is getting her sleeping bag set up, Peter surprises them with a campfire and the tent in the backyard.

"Girls," Veronica calls out as she climbs the stairs and knocks on Spencer's door. Spencer opens it and lets her in. "Hey, you two. Spencer, Daddy has a surprise for you in the backyard. You two want to go see it?"

Spencer looks to Aria where she is set up on the floor with her sleeping bag, favorite blanket, her stuffed pig, and her sketch pad and pencils, because she is going to show Spencer how to draw with the block letterings.

"Sure! Come on, Ari! Let's go see what my dad has for us in the backyard." The two follow Veronica downstairs and Spencer goes to get her cup from the table while Aria goes outside.

She hears the younger girl exclaim, "Wow! This is so cool!" And comes running outside. She sees a campfire with chairs around it. A table set up with marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers, and a tea pitcher of milk – which is what they use when doing a campfire. The tent is set up to one side. And lanterns are hanging around to give off enough light.

"Woah! This is really cool. Thanks, Daddy!" Spencer gives him a hug and he just chuckles, says 'no problem', and then goes to get Spencer's sleeping bag and some extra pillows and blankets from the storage room in the basement.

Peter and Veronica get the tent set up with the girls' sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, and a portable DVD player before leaving them to it and telling them they are leaving the backdoor unlocked so Spencer and Aria can come inside anytime they want or need to.

"This is so awesome, Spence!" Aria says as she gets a piece of chocolate and graham cracker for her toasted marshmallow.

"Yeah, it is. And it's a good surprise, I didn't even know my dad was going to do this!"

After eating three marshmallows each and using the water hose to rinse their hands, they go to the tent and put in a movie in the portable DVD player. After the first movie, they go in to brush their teeth before putting in a second movie to watch while they fall asleep.

* * *

**_*The next morning*_**

The next morning, on Saturday, Veronica surprises Aria with a special kind of French toast. Instead of being made with eggs, she mixes milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together, to make vegan French toast. She serves it with cut up strawberries and blueberries, syrup, and "snow", which is just powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

The girls spend all day going in and out of the house. They play in the sprinkler, make cupcakes, draw with Aria's art supplies, and go to McDonald's for lunch. Then they come home, watch movies, and have a singing contest outside.

Later, they have a water balloon fight, which they do a sneak attack with on Peter when he comes outside for a minute, and even go over to Spencer's aunt and uncle's house so they can see Spencer's cousins.

Sunday morning, Spencer and Aria get ready to go to church. It is a lot easier for Aria to get ready at the Hastings' and go to church with them than it is for her parents to pick her up and take her themselves, since they will be going to the same church anyway.

Aria also goes to the nursery at church with Spencer and Veronica because it is their turn for nursery duty. They entertain the babies and young children, hand out their snacks, and even get to rock an infant named Georgie to sleep.

Afterwards, the Montgomerys and Hastings go out to eat lunch with each other before Aria goes home with her family.

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/

**_*Later – Sunday, September 9th, 2011*_**

**_*ring, ring, ring*_**

"I'll get it!" Aria runs down the stairs and to the kitchen phone. It is just before four in the afternoon, and she was upstairs in the playroom, watching a movie with her 9-year-old brother, Mike.

Picking up the phone, she breathes out, slightly out of breath from practically sprinting all the way from upstairs. She lifts the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Ar!_" It's Spencer, and Aria smiles at hearing the older girl's voice, even though they saw each other not even a full three hours ago.

"Hi, Spence! What's up?"

"_Nothing much. I was just calling to tell you that I have decided to go with my dad and sister tomorrow, to Massachusetts, so we can see my cousin for her first birthday party. We'll be back on Tuesday, and I might even be there at school before lunch._"

Aria nods, even though Spencer cannot see her. She had overheard Spencer's sister, Melissa, talking with her dad, Peter, earlier today about skipping school tomorrow.

They have some cousins who live in Massachusetts, four to be exact, one who is 15, one who just turned 12, one who is about to be 10, and their "surprise" baby, who is turning a year old tomorrow.

"Okay, cool! Are you going to fly there tomorrow?"

"_No, actually, since it will take us approximately 7 hours to get there, taking into account stops for the bathroom and to eat,"_

Aria giggles quietly, as Spencer speaks so adult like, "_If we leave in the next 30 minutes, putting our departure time at about 4:15 p.m., we would arrive by 10 o'clock tonight._"

"_In other words,_" Spencer continues, "_We are going to drive down tonight, and then leave early in the morning on Tuesday, and fly home, so Mel and I can be at school by lunch time._"

"Oh, ok," Aria answers. "Can I call you tomorrow after school, or do you think you will be too busy?" Aria doesn't want to let on that she is actually a little bit afraid of going to school without Spencer. It will be the first time in a week since the two girls meeting.

She is a bit anxious of what might happen. All week the boys, Alexander, Steven, and Logan have left her alone because she was with Spencer, on the playground, in the classrooms, and at lunch.

But now, even though it's only one day and possible until lunch on Tuesday, Aria doesn't want to go alone. She doesn't want them to see that Spencer is not with her.

Before her thoughts can spiral anymore, she is pulled back to the phone by Spencer's voice.

"_Ar? You there?_"

Shaking her head to clear it, she mentally tells herself to stop being such a baby. It's only one day, and also, she does not want Spencer to think she is a big baby, someone who can't go just one day without seeing her.

"Sorry, what?"

"_Are you all right, Ari?_"

"Yeah, Spence. I'm fine. Sorry, I was just thinkin' about something."

The other end is quiet and for a second, Aria thinks Spencer is going to call out her lie. But she doesn't. She just says, "_Oh. Well, I was saying that of course, you could call me. I'm never too busy for my Little Big One!_"

Aria smiles at the new nickname. It certainly is different from the usual "Ar" and "Ari".

"Little Big One?"

"_Yeah! Y'know, cause you're little, but big. It's something that only I can call you._" A pause, and then, "_Do you not like it, or something?_"

"No! No, I do," Aria can't seem to get rid of the smile on her face. "It's special," She continues, and gets a _yeah_, in return. "I like it."

"_Well, okay! I'll call you Little Big One from now on_." Spencer sighs and Aria hears someone calling out on the other end. Spencer says something back Aria cannot distinguish, before returning her attention to the phone, "_Okay, Little One, I have to go. I need to finish packing and help Daddy put the suitcases in the car._"

"Okay, Spence. Goodbye."

"_Bye, Little Big One,_" Aria giggles at the extra emphasis that the older girl puts on her new nickname. She hangs up the phone and runs back up the stairs, to finish the movie with Mike.

* * *

**Well, here it is! I know I may have had the girls be a little young for their age, but come on, who didn't love seeing Sparia dress up, go dancing, and have Spencer showing Aria how to do a dip?**

**I took the nickname from the season 7's episode where they break into Sara Harvey's hotel room. Spencer calls her ****_Little Big One_**** (because she's little, but big), and I thought it would be adorable to do. Please review! :)**

**I plan on keeping Sparia alone for about a year before I start bringing in the other girls. Maybe seventh or eighth grade? ****It's just whatever you guys want, so let me know! And please review, let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)**


	4. A Gut Feeling

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters. I do own all characters not associated with the show, including OC siblings, friends, teachers, etc.  
Spoilers: None  
Rating: T**

**Important, please read!**

**This chapter is going to be something I have never done before, except a little bit with Emison. It is going to be set on September 11 of 2001.**

**Trigger Warning: Scenes, topics, and events will be shown as they happened on 9/11 of 2001. Anyone who suffered a loss or witnessed these acts of terrorism, please read with caution.**

* * *

_**Tuesday, September 11th, 2001**_

* * *

**_*Montgomery Residence – Aria's point of view*_**

I wake up to my alarm at 6:30 in the morning. I'm not happy about today. Yesterday, or well, last night, Spencer called me at 9:30 p.m., right before I went to bed.

She said they had so much at her cousin's birthday party. She said that she and her dad and sister were going to fly home early this morning, so she could be in school by lunchtime.

Spencer was also calling to say goodnight. She checked to make sure I was not bothered by Steven, Logan, or Alexander yesterday.

I told her I was not, and then, it was as if she could read my mind, because the next thing she said was,

"If Steven, Logan, or Alexander bothers you tomorrow, I want you to go straight to the Duty Teacher or our teacher, and tell them. Then I will deal with them when I get home on Tuesday."

I smiled at that. Maybe today won't be as bad as I thought.

We talked for a little bit and then we had to hang up and go to bed.

This morning, after I get up, I slowly go over to the bathroom and wash my face. I put my outfit but I take so long that I don't have time for TV before breakfast, like usual.

I walk down the stairs very slowly. It's almost as if I turned into a turtle overnight. My shoes make a noise as I walk because I am dragging my feet across the floor instead of picking them up.

"Good morning, sweetheart," My mom says. "How did you sleep?"

I shrug my shoulders. I don't feel good all of a sudden. It's like, suddenly, I have something heavy on my shoulders, and my stomach feels weird.

Not like it does when I am sick as in throwing up, but like it did that one time when I was five, and I drew on my mom's favorite china plate with a permanent marker.

I knew I should not have done it as soon as I was finished drawing. I knew inside that I was going to get in lots of trouble when mom found out, and that made my stomach feel weird. I was unable to hide it from her for too long.

Now, there's this feeling like something bad is going to happen, or I am going to get in trouble even though I am unsure of what I did or even if I actually did do something.

"Are you all right, Sweetie?" Mom asks as she comes over to me. She puts a hand to my forehead and continues, "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I don't know, Mama," I tell her. What's the harm in being honest? "I just don't feel good." That's all I have to say as an explanation because I honestly don't know what to tell her. Would she believe me if I said I have a feeling something bad will happen?

"Well, you don't seem to have a fever. Can you tell me where you feel bad at? Your stomach, a headache?"

"I don't know, Mama, honest. I just don't feel well. It's like, my stomach but not really, and I feel worried, but I don't know why or what for." Should I say something?

I decide not to, at least, not until I am more sure about what this feeling means.

"Well, sweetie, I'll tell'ya what. Why don't you eat your breakfast, maybe that will help settle you a little bit. You can go to school, and if you are still feeling unwell at lunchtime, or it gets worse, then you call me, and I will come and get you. Sound like a deal?"

I nod. Maybe she is right. I might just need to eat something. I'll go to school and ignore the feeling, until I know more about it.

I begin eating my breakfast. Mama made me vegan French toast with strawberries, blueberries, and "snow", which is really powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I get milk and orange juice to drink, because I love both and can't ever choose just one.

* * *

**_*Later – News channel in teacher's lounge*_**

**_**The news broadcast channel is showing the World Trade Center. One of the towers has smoke coming from it._**

**_"It appears there is more and more fire and smoke enveloping the very top of the building, and as fire crews are descending on this area, it-it does not appear that there's any kind of an effort up there yet. Now, remember – oh, my God…that looks like a second plane…"_**

The few teachers in the room look around at each other.

Shock.

Confusion.

And a general what-the-fuck-was-that are the expressions.

There is no way they could be seeing right…

Right?

That is absolutely not an airplane, the Twin Towers, nor is it an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center.

But…

Ms. Johnson, the PE teacher, and Mr. Tanner, the sixth-grade math teacher, and Mr. Taylor, the fourth- and fifth-grade Social Studies teacher, all look at one another and they realize, no matter how much they want to pretend otherwise, that they know exactly what it is they just watched.

Someone has crashed not one, but two fucking airplanes into the World Trade Center.

Someone has declared terrorism on our country.

**_:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/_**

**_*Later – around 9 o'clock*_**

It's not better.

Not better, not better, not better.

That is all I can think as I run around a corner.

My stomach is in knots. It is literally like someone had made a huge knot out of rope, and put it into my stomach.

I hear the whispers, see the looks.

Something has happened.

Something that is not good.

School is being let out.

I ask around and everyone says the same thing…

Nothing's wrong. Just go back to class.

Why would be let out if nothing was wrong?

We don't get out of a school for no reason.

There is always a reason.

Parent/Teacher Conferences. Snow. Bad thunderstorms. Dangerous road conditions from too much rain. That time everyone in grades first through fourth was sick with Chicken Pox and we were let out because not enough kids were here.

But never for nothing.

It's lunch recess. I am outside when the announcement comes out…

Attention, Students, please go back to your fourth period classroom for an important announcement. Once again, please go back to your fourth period classes for an important announcement.

All the kids on the playground line up to go inside. It is Second Lunch recess, which means the fourth, fifth, and sixth classes are out here.

Our school has two lunch periods. Kindergarteners eat lunch in their room, and then first, second, and third graders have First Lunch, and fourth through sixth have Second Lunch.

**(A/N: Spencer and Aria have both been here since second grade, but this is the first year they have had classes together).**

I line up with my class and we go inside. Our fourth period class is Social Studies.

We have English (8–8:45), then Break (8:45–9:00), Special Class (9:05–9:50), then Recess (9:55–10:25). Social Studies (10:30–11:15), Lunch (11:20–12:00), then Recess again (12:00–12:30), Math (12:35–1:20), Science (1:25–2:10), Snack time (2:15–2:25) Recess (2:25–2:55), Tutoring is from 3:00–3:30 p.m., but school is let out at 3:00 p.m.

We get to the classroom and everyone sits down.

Our teacher, Mr. Tanner, goes to the door, then back to this desk, to the door, his desk, the door…

That bad feeling is still inside me.

Eventually, the intercom comes on again. The bus riders are told to line up and go to the bus area. Then the car riders.

I go outside because my brother and I are car riders. Mike is waiting for me.

I walk over to him where he is standing next to the wall. He looks like exactly like I feel.

"Do you feel it, too?" He asks completely skipping over the usual, "Hi, Sissy! We're getting out early, isn't that cool?"

I get chills at that question. What does he mean? Does he have a bad feeling, too? Does he know that something must be wrong because we don't get out for no reason?

I just nod, trying not to cry. I don't want to scare him. He's just a kid, just nine years old.

"Yeah, Mikey, I feel it, too."

* * *

**_*Montgomery Residence – Normal point of view*_**

Ella comes to pick Mike and Aria up. The two are quiet, the atmosphere of the car having a heavy feel to it.

Normally, the two would chatter about their day, what they had for lunch, the games they played at recess, etc.

Ella can feel it, too, although this is because she saw the news, understands what was happening.

She knows.

They get home and the two kids drag themselves inside, hanging their backpacks up, putting their shoes in their place, and going to the playroom upstairs.

"What do you think we got out for, Ari?" Mike asks as they open a fridge, get out some milk, and then search for the remote to turn to the TV on with.

"I don't know, Mikey," The bad feeling is still there. Aria is still feeling sick, but she tries to ignore it, saying yes to Mike when he asks if they can watch Scooby-Doo before SpongeBob.

"I really like this episode," Mike says. It is VCR taping of the first episode of the show _Scooby-Doo, Where are You?_ It is called What a Night for a Knight.

"This is a good one," Aria agrees. "My favorite part is when Scooby-Doo accidently takes those kooky glasses."

They watch the first full VCR of about five or so episodes. Two hours pass and it is now after one in the afternoon.

* * *

**_*Massachusetts – Spencer's point of view – Earlier in the day (5:30 a.m.)*_**

My sister and I are sharing a room with our cousin, Jennifer. We made a fort with pillows and blankets, and slept in it last night.

Yesterday was so much fun. We celebrated our cousin's first birthday. Abigail was a surprise baby for my aunt and uncle. They already have three kids, – James, who is 15, Amanda, who is 12, Joshua, who is about to be 10, and Abigail Jennifer. She just turned one.

Mel and I wake up early because we need to go to the airport to fly home this morning. So, Mel sets an alarm for 5:00 in the morning and goes to take a shower. When she is finished, she wakes me up.

She is a good big sister like that, letting me sleep in while she gets dressed.

We are up an hour early and are going to make breakfast for everyone. Mel suggested it last night since dad brought us all the way here, on a school night, plus our aunt and uncle who gave a place to stay. It would be a nice way of saying 'thank you'.

We are going to make eggs, bacon, toast, and sausage. My cousins Amanda and Joshua are allergic to dairy products, so we cannot cook anything that has milk, cheese, etc. in it.

Once we are dressed, Mel and I go to the nursery where Abby is sleeping and check on her. It is now just before 6:00 in the morning, and Abby is awake.

Once she sees us, she starts jumping up and down, babbling and grinning and reaching out.

"Hi, AJ!" I say. "How are you this morning?" I lift her out the bed and she wraps her arms around my neck for a hug. "Good morning to you, AJ. Can you say that? Can you say, 'good morning, Auntie Spence!'"

AJ just giggles and smiles. She has not started speaking yet, but is doing tons of babbling. I hear my sister laughing in the doorway.

"No way," Mel comes over to me and AJ. She takes AJ from me and puts her on the changing table to get her a new diaper. "If her first word is going to be anything, it will be Auntie Mel. Can you say that, Abby? Auntie Mel, Auntie Mel, Auntie Mel."

AJ just babbles some more and laughs, probably thinking it is funny that we are trying to get her to speak.

Once we get AJ changed into a new diaper then we take her down stairs and put her in her highchair.

"Alright, Spence, you can do the toast and eggs. I will do the bacon and sausage."

"Mel, do you think we could turn the radio on if we keep the volume down low?"

AJ lets out a happy shriek at that question and starts using sign language to sign, "**_Radio_**, **_radio_**!"

"I didn't even know she knew that word!" Mel says in astonishment. Our Aunt and Uncle have taught all their kids sign language as a baby, so they could communicate even when they were unable to use actually words.

"What should we listen to?" I turn the kitchen radio on, lowering the volume and switching through channels.

I get to one station that says _"Good morning, Boston!_" and again, AJ starts bouncing in her highchair seat, squealing and pointing.

I guess my toddler cousin likes the weather and news report.

"Of course, she would take after you," Melissa rolls her eyes while also smiling. I grin at this because she means I liked watching the news when I was little, instead of cartoons or something else in the mornings.

Dad does not come down until breakfast is nearly done. Cooking for eight people is a lot of hard work.

"Look at you two!" Daddy comes over and takes the coffee mug from Mel. She made him a cup, just the way he likes it.

"We decided to make breakfast to say thank you to Uncle Zach and Aunt Molly. It was Sissy's idea." I say. "Do you think they will appreciate it?"

"I think, they will _love_ it. But we may not have enough time to eat with them."

"We know," Mel starts turning the stove off. "We are just going to put everything in the oven to keep it warm."

Dad, Mel, and I start eating our breakfast. We give AJ some cheerios and scrambled eggs. When we are finished, Mel and I load our bags into the cab waiting outside while Dad goes to wake up Aunt Zach, to tell him we are leaving and that AJ is awake and playing with toys in her crib.

We give hugs, kisses, thank yous, and then we are off to the airport.

* * *

**_*Present time – 10:21 a.m. approx. 7 minutes before the North Tower collapses – Mike's point of view*_**

My sister and I got to come home from school early today. We were only there for about two and a half hours. I was taking a spelling test in my class after we had 10 minutes to study.

We were half through the test when our principal came on over the intercom.

We were told that school would be letting out early and the teachers needed to finish up any assignments were doing before all the students needed to pack up.

It was weird. Usually, we would know if we were getting out early. Mama will tell us because Granma or Granpa will pick us up.

Mama did _not _tell us that we were getting out early, Granma was not supposed to pick us up. My sister Aria was acting strangely this morning, telling Mama that she did not feel good.

Anyway, we came home and Sissy and I went to the playroom. She was still upset about something. She let me pick the movie. I chose Scooby-Doo.

It's my favorite episode – the one where the Knight is missing from the museum.

Soon, we are done with the movie, and wow! 1 hour has passed. It is almost 10:30.

"I'm going to change it to the TV, okay, Sissy?" I tell Aria. "I want to watch some cartoons, if they are on."

I have to unplug the VCR player, then change the setting on the TV to where it is playing the channels.

When I switch to the TV, the news channel is on.

It's showing something scary, buildings that are fire?

What?

"Hey, Ar, look! They're talkin' about a fire somewhere. Isn't that weird?"

Sissy doesn't say anything, though. She is looking at the TV and she looks like she did this morning. Worried, sick…

Then, I realize something.

Hey! I know those buildings. Those are the Twin Towers!

But…wait…what?

"Aria! Michael!" Mama calls for us. "Come down here, please."

We go downstairs and see…Spencer's mom?

Mom and Dad, Granma, Granpa, and Ms. Veronica.

"Mama, what's goin' on?"

"Come over here, you two." Mama motions to the couch where she is sitting. "We have something we need to tell you."

"It's about what was on TV, isn't it?" Sissy says. "About the planes hitting the Twin Towers?"

"Yes, it is, baby," I don't know what is going on!

"Mama, why are Spencer's mom here?" I ask. Her mom looks really sad and worried, like Aria. Did something happen to Spencer?

"Sweetie, you know that Spencer, her sister, and her dad went to Massachusetts, yes?" Sissy nods. "Well, it turns out that…that, well…Sweetie, um…" Mama usually does not talk like this. Something very bad must have happened.

Mama goes _ahem_, and then, "It turns out that the two planes, which hit the Twin Towers, were coming from an airport in Massachusetts."

I've heard Mama and Dad say that someone's "expression dropped" but I never knew what it meant until now.

Until Sissy's "expression dropped".

"Spencer…Spencer was…she was on one of those p-pl-planes, wasn't she, Mama?"

What. I'm so confused.

What does that mean.

If…if…

No.

No, no, no, no.

I look at Sissy. She is crying now. Mama didn't answer her but even _I_ know the answer by looking at everyone's faces. Ms. Veronica is crying. Granma and Granpa look extra worried. And Mama and Dad are hugging Sissy.

"Yes, Sweetheart," Ms. Veronica says. "Spencer, Mel, and Peter were on the plane that…that…I am so sorry, baby," No one's ever called her baby before, except for Mama. "I am so sorry. Spencer loved you so much, thank you for being the best thing that happened to her."

Then, I notice the TV is playing the same station as our TV in the playroom.

One of the Towers starts falling down.

I look at everyone, crying.

But no. She can't be gone.

She promised. She promised that she would teach me Lacrosse. She promised she would show me how to make the perfect–

She _can't_ be gone. She just _can't be_.

* * *

**Please don't hate me. I am having trouble writing the next chapter, but I hope to have it finished soon. Also, I will update ****_The Pink TuTu – chapter outtakes_**** in a few more days.**

**Please review!**


	5. Author's Note (please read)

Hey everyone. I have question for you all, but first I want to explain some things.

I'm sure you all remember back in 2015 when I left an author's note saying my grandma was in the hospital after having a heart attack, and that the doctors were not sure if she was going to make it through the night.

Well, I am happy to report that now, 4 years later, and she is still here. I am so thankful, especially to those of you who sent prayers and good thoughts our way.

Two years after that incident, in 2017, I had spent a few nights at her house. I was 19 and not in college yet. Well, it happened again, except this time, I was alone with her.

I was in the living room when she woke up from a nap and asked me if I was ready for her to take me home. I said yes, walked back to bedroom, picked up my suitcase, and came to the living room again.

I could tell something was wrong right away – no one should be breathing that loudly. She had a dazed look on her face and it just felt…wrong. All of it did.

She sat down on the steps right outside the door and I made a split-second decision that probably saved her life. I ran back inside, grabbed the phone, and dialed 911 for only the second time in my entire life.

I was terrified, you guys. I was terrified and I sounded like a fucking child – there's something wrong with my grandma. She's trying to speak but she can't make any words. I still remember that nearly 2 years later.

That is not how a 19-year-old should sound, but it is what it is. I scrambled around trying to find something with her address on it because I can never remember what her damned street number or name is.

I gave the address and grabbed my grandma's cellphone to text my mom, who was at school, 1 hour away. My mom called me and I handed the phone to my grandma, a few seconds later, I had it back – she's having a stroke, my mom said.

An ambulance came and they took us to the hospital. Have you ever been in ambulance before? I haven't. And I don't wish to ever be in one for as long as I shall live.

Anyway, she was fine at the end, or as fine as someone could be after having two strokes (the second one was at the hospital, once everyone got there).

Now, it is two years later. It is July of 2019. I know it may sound stupid, but I have a request for you all.

Please pray for my grandma, if you will, for nothing bad to happen this year. It is an odd year, and for the several ones she has not had good luck with do years – 2015 was the heart attack, 2017 was two strokes. Both around October.

So, please, if you pray, do so if you do not mind. If not, then just keep my grandma and my family in your thoughts.

I really want to get to the new year without her being in the hospital again. Because honestly, I don't think she can take anymore. I'm afraid the next update with be a note saying she is no longer with us.

I don't want that.

Thank you all. I appreciate it more than you could understand.


	6. Just a Dream

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters. I do own all characters not associated with the show, including OC siblings, teachers, etc.  
Spoilers: None  
Rating: T**

**Trigger Warning: Mention of events that took place on September 11, 2001. Please read with caution.**

**Notes: still in Aria's point of view. Please don't hate me… :) *hides behind a rock* Also want to welcome my new follower: ****cotychan****. This is for **_**Momma Duck**_** because I promised her everything would be better and explained in this chapter. Thank you to those that reviewed on the last couple of chapters.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_Previously on We Were Just Kids…_

_"Sweetie, you know that Spencer, her sister, and her dad went to Massachusetts, yes?" Sissy nods. "Well, it turns out that…that, well…Sweetie, um…" Ella stutters for moment, trying to find a way to tell her daughter that her best friend is dead._

_"It turns out that the two planes, which hit the Twin Towers, were coming from an airport in Massachusetts."_

_"Spencer…Spencer was…she was on one of those p-pl-planes, wasn't she, Mama?"_

_"Yes, Sweetheart," Veronica says instead of Ella. "Spencer, Mel, and Peter were on the plane that…that…I am so sorry, baby. I am so, so sorry. Spencer loved you so much, thank you for being the best thing that ever happened to her."_

* * *

_**Tuesday, September 11th, 2001**_

* * *

**_*Montgomery Residence – Aria's point of view*_**

_"Sissy! Sissy, wake up!"_

I hear Mikey shouting at me. But why is he shouting to wake up? I look over at him, but…the room looks different. I am no longer sitting on the couch with Mama and Daddy. Spencer's mom isn't standing behind me and Grampa and Gramma are not standing beside the couch.

I close my eyes, tight. I squeeze them shut and then _open_ them.

I'm in the…playroom?

But, what?

I look around. The TV is still playing a Scooby-Doo movie. I look at the clock on the wall _10:25 a.m._

"Sissy, are you ok? You were talkin' in your sleep and you sounded upset." Mikey tells me but I'm not really listening. I am still trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

I swear I was just in here. We were watching movies and Mikey changed the TV from the VCR player to the regular TV channels. He had the news on and it was showing…

Oh, crap!

"Mikey!" I yell this and it makes my brother jump. He looks alarmed. "Turn the TV on! Switch it to the normal channels!"

Mikey doesn't argue; he just does as he is told. The channel is on the news and it is showing…

…the Twin Towers.

No.

"No, no, no," I jump up and run out of the room. Mikey follows, calling my name and asking what is going on.

"Mama!" I yell this as I come sliding into the kitchen. Mama is sitting at the kitchen table with Daddy and… _no_.

Spencer's mom.

"No," I feel my heart sink. My hands get sweaty and my heart feels like it is going to jump out of my chest. The feeling is back, and it is worse.

Spencer was flying home today.

She was leaving from Boston, which is where the planes came from.

Oh, God.

What if she was on the plane?

What if…

No, I can't think like that.

I _won't_ think like that.

My best friend cannot be dead, she just _can't_.

"Mommy…?" I sound like a little kid, like Mikey when he has a bad dream. Mama does not look happy. She looks sad, worried, upset, and anxious.

She looks like I feel.

"_P-please_, Mommy, please. Was Spencer on the plane? Is she-is she…" I can't say it. I can't make the words come out. If I say them, if I say those three words my whole life will be turned upside down. "Mama?"

Mama comes over and pulls me to a seat.

"Baby, sit down. Take a deep breath, okay?" I try to suck in a breath and find myself almost unable to. I go slowly like Mama says, slow and deep in, slow and deep out.

After a few moments, my chest feels lighter. My head feels clearer. I can breathe again.

"Ari, look at me," Mama says. I look into her brown eyes. Mikey got Mama's eyes while I got a mix of Daddy's hazel eyes and her brown ones. "I promise you, Spencer was not on the plane."

I feel lighter hearing this, but I have to be sure. I have to _really know_.

"H-how do you know?" I whisper, not looking away from Mama's eyes. Spencer's Mom answers instead of Mama. She comes over and kneels down beside me and Mama.

"Aria, Sweetheart, the planes that…the planes that crashed, they left the airport in Boston and were heading to California. Spencer, Mel, and Peter would not have been on them."

_God_ that makes everything so much better.

I mean, I _know_ that there are probably hundreds of people getting calls telling them their family members are gone.

And it sucks. And it should not be happening. No one, _no one_, should have to go through that. No one should have to feel the emptiness and sadness that is left from realizing they will never see that person again.

But right now…

Right now, _Spencer_ is ok. Right now,_ I _don't have that feeling. Veronica does not have to live with her husband and both daughters dying. Granny and Papa Hastings do not have to get the call that their son and both of their granddaughters were on the plane that crashed into one of Twin Towers.

And that, _that right there _is amazing.

It makes my heart skip a beat.

It makes me fall into Veronica's arms and cry because _thank God_, my best friend, her daughter, is ok.

"I know, Sweetie," Veronica whispers to me, rubbing my back. "I know, I know. Would you like to come over?" She asks this but I am confused as to what it means.

She must understand that from my silence because she says, "Spencer, Mel, and Peter are going to be home soon. They are driving back from Philly. Would you…would you like to come over?"

I pull away from my best friend's mom to look at my own.

"Can I, Mama?" I ask, hoping she will say yes. I really need to see Spencer after the morning I've had. Gosh, I think, looking over at the microwave clock quickly _10:43 a.m._ It's not even 11 in the morning yet!

I look back at Mama. She is nodding and looking very understandingly between Spencer's mom and me.

"Sure, baby. You can go, and if it's all right, you can spend the night, okay?" She then looks at Spencer's mom for this next question. "I assume you're not sending the girls to school tomorrow?"

I really hope she isn't. I mean, _I _don't want to go, and I hope she does not send Mikey either. He is just 9 years old, this will really upset him once he realizes what is going on.

Things like this, – a big disaster, lots of people dying, tons of others being affected and upset and everything, – they really get to him.

"No, I am definitely keeping them home. Aria is more than welcome to stay. I am not sure about Thursday, I'm sure Spencer will throw a fit about going – she hates missing school unless absolutely necessary – but if they do go, Aria is welcome to stay and I will take her as well."

I grin at what she is saying. Spencer is definitely not going to want to miss school. Even though we've only known each other for a week, I still know that she hates missing school unless it is for something that is unavoidable – like being sick, or having to go a funeral, or something else equally important.

I am happy that Mama is letting me go. I really need to see Spencer right now. That dream was so scary, Spence was on the plane that hit the Tower and that meant she was dead and…

No.

I need to stop thinking about it.

Spencer is fine. She was not really on the plane.

_Get a grip, Aria,_ I think. She_'s fine. She is probably not gonna want to hear about this. I mean, _she_ was the one that was in danger, not you, so don't go to her house thinking she is going to ignore that and be happy to comfort you._

That little voice in my head comes back. The same one that made me afraid to tell Spence about my peanut allergy.

The one that said, _she won't want to hang out with you now. Do you _really_ think she is going to want to go peanut-free for the rest of her life? She won't._

_Sooner or later, buying pricey, fake peanut butter will be more than she will want to sacrifice, and she'll throw you out like all of your other "friends" have._

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by my mom asking if I wanted to go pack a bag.

I nod and go upstairs. I have no idea how long I'm going to stay over. I mean, I guess I could pack for three days and then come back for more, but…

I always make sure to pack like, three extra pairs of underwear - you never know why I might need an extra pair!

Cause like, I can always ask Mrs. Hast-I mean, Veronica to wash my shirts and pants but it would be suuupper embarrassing to ask her to wash my _underwear_, wouldn't it?

I put three pairs of pajamas in my bag - sweats or yoga pants and T-shirt's. Then I put better clothes, for town or school. Then I put a few more T-shirt's and pants, but this time it's just play clothes that _could be_ town clothes, if it was _absolutely necessary._

After I pack my (way more than probably necessary) clothes, I go to the bathroom and get my shampoo, hair brush, tooth brush, and make up - don't worry though; it's just my mom's old, leftover makeup.

I just like playing with it, ok!

Nothing wrong with…don't look at me like that.

Once I am back in my bedroom, I decide to pack an extra backpack. This has my sketchbook, pens, pencils, stencils, crayons, mark–… ok so maybe I am overthinking my checklist for this trip, so sue me…

(I can't forget my school bag!)

Once I get back downstairs, Mama smiles when she sees all of my bags – one suitcase and two backpacks.

"What?" I ask, embarrassed at how much stuff I have.

"Sweetie, you are only going to be gone for a couple of days, so–" Mama begins but then she stops. What was she going to say?

"Never mind, Baby. Ar, why don't you leave your school backpack here? If you and Spence decide to go to school, I'm sure Miss Veronica would not mind stopping by here and letting you grab you bag…?"

Mama kind of makes the end of the sentence a question, like she said something, but then realized she did not actually know the right answer, and so she decided to ask it at the last minute.

Mrs. Hastings, I mean, Veronica, nods and smiles at me.

"Of course, Sweetheart. Today is only Tuesday, but I am sure Spencer will want to go back to school at least Friday, if not on Thursday, as well. If you are still there with us, then I will be happy to bring you by here first."

I nod my head and go to sit my backpack by the front door. I come back to the kitchen and pick my suitcase up. Mama gives me a lunchbox filled with medicine that I might need – my Epi Pen and my allergy medicine.

* * *

**_*Hastings Residence – Normal point of view*_**

Veronica and Aria leave for the Hastings house. They listen to the radio on the way there, but the five minutes is still filled with silence.

She knows she needs to keep it together for the younger girl, so Veronica tries to put on a smile, tries to keep her voice uplifted in emotions.

She tries, even though she knows this young girl is too smart for her own good sometimes – she knows this even if Spencer had only met Aria just last week.

They go inside and Aria takes her bags upstairs to Spencer's room. She comes back to the kitchen, and both Veronica and Aria try to take minds off of seeing Peter and the girls with making cookies.

By the time they are made, baked, and cooled, the sound of a door opening gets their attention.

They both hurry to the front door.

Aria yells out, "Spencer!" at the same time Veronica is choking back tears and reaching for her husband and oldest daughter.

"Oh, my god! I am so happy you three are all right. God, I don't know what I would have done if-…if you were on _the plane_."

"It's ok, Honey," Peter soothes, watching Melissa goes to be a part of Sparia's hug. "We're all ok. I just…I just cannot believe it. My goodness, how can anyone do the things that those _horrible_ people did?"

"I'm really happy you're ok, Mr. Hastings," Aria says with tears in her voice. "And I am so happy you and Mel are ok, too, Spence."

Peter wraps her up in her arms. He thinks about all those 11-year-olds out there who lost a parent or sibling. All those little girls and boys whose lives were forever changed today.

He sends a silent prayer up, thanking the Big Guy for keeping his family safe, for letting him and Mel and Spencer get home. And he sends one more up, asking for answers and strength to be given to those affected by these acts of Terrorism.

* * *

**And there it is! I was hoping someone would notice what I did in the last chapter – Spencer, Melissa, and Peter would not have been on either of planes that his the Trade Center because both planes were going to California, not Pennsylvania.**

**I have the next chapter all finished, but I decided to add one last minute - Christmas instaed of skipping from November to January. Once that chapter is completed, I will have 4 pre-written, so the updates with probably be once every couple of weeks.**

**Please review and let me know what you thought!**


	7. A Sparia Thanksgiving

**ETA (March): Changed up Alison's siblings. Please pay attention to the ending.**

**ETA (May): Switched up James's and Richard's relationship. They are engaged, however, are not married as gay marriage was not yet legal in 2001. Also, they are working to adopt their children.**

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters.  
Spoilers: None.  
Rating: K+**

**Notes: November is here! The Montgomerys and Hastings are celebrating Thanksgiving together and we will see some of Spencer's cousins in this chapter. Lots of things happen in this chapter – this is the second "first" Holiday for Sparia, a couple of the girls are mentioned, and you will also get to meet the Dilaurentises!**

**Shoutout to ****_Momma Duck._**** This chapter has a character that I previously mentioned to you.**

**For future reference, Allentown, Pennsylvania is going to be representing Rosewood in this story.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_**Late-November 2001**_

* * *

**_*Hastings Residence*_**

They have school Monday and Tuesday, but the rest of the week is Thanksgiving break. Aria rides home with Spencer on Tuesday at just after lunch, since it was a half day. She went to school because, even though Mike stayed home, she wanted to go see Spencer.

Once off the bus, Spencer takes Aria to the barn to show her the newest addition that the Hastings were having put on, something that has been under construction since the beginning of summer.

"It's this way, Ar," Spencer says as she takes Aria through the main room, which is an open-floor plan of a kitchen/dining room and living room. The kitchen and dining room were added onto. Now, both rooms are huge, fit for a princess. The living room is of average size, with an L-shaped couch and some oversized chairs.

"This is our living room." Spencer begins the tour. "We have a TV that you can plug games into or watch movies on. And this is our new kitchen." Aria follows Spencer to another room.

"Mom and Daddy had them remake the kitchen and now, we have three ovens! We used to have a teeny tiny kitchen in here because this is where me and Mel have our sleepovers. It had a small oven, a microwave, and a small fridge. But now," She sweeps her arm around the room, watching as Aria's eyes widen as she takes in the room fully.

The room is done in dark oak and black colors. There is a granite top counter in the center with a sink and space for bar stools. On the right are the stovetops and some more counter space. Wrapping around the left, there is a doorway to the dining room.

Then, to the very immediate left of the doorway, a giant, silver, two-door fridge. To the left of the fridge is yet again, more counter space, perfect for setting out pies, pre-prepared food, tins of cookies or cupcakes, etc. And then there is the three-stacked oven.

"We have three ovens, a giant fridge, and lots of counter space. And over here is the dining room. It used to be just a tiny room with a tiny table that had, like, four or five chairs. This space is big enough for three of those long tables that have five chairs on each side. And look!" Spencer points to one end of the room. "It has a fireplace. Mama said we can light it on Thursday for when we eat supper."

"This is really cool, Spence!" Aria says once she gets out of her awe at how the rooms look. "Can we go to the playroom?" Spencer takes her back through the kitchen and to a little bedroom that was made into a movie/playroom. It has two sets of bunk beds, a TV with a VCR player, and a table in one corner that has a large storage cupboard with every kind of Legos available.

The other corner, the one closest to one set of bunk beds has two beanbags and a small bookcase with a little lamp. In the cabinet where the TV is, is a fold up table sits along with every art item a child could want. Markers, stickers, crayons, glue, glitter, paints, stamps, clay, molds, and the list goes on.

This is something that Peter and Veronica surprised Spencer with earlier in the year. Since she uses the barn the most, for sleepovers and to hang out with friends, Veronica took out all of the "little" kid stuff (dress-up items, etc.) and replaced it with a Lego corner, a reading corner, and replenished the art supply inventory.

"This room is so awesome!" Aria says as she looks through the movies and art stuff. "I wish my room looked like this. It has everything! I don't even have this much art stuff at home."

"Yeah, Mama took out my old stuff. I haven't been in here in a while, so it had my dress up clothes and stuff like a play kitchen with fake food, and pretend makeup. But I told Mom and Dad that I wanted to have bunk beds and just art stuff, and a place to keep the movies and a reading corner. They surprised me with the Lego corner!"

As Aria continues to look through the movies, Spencer turns on the TV and changes the channel to an episode of SpongeBob. She doesn't like it, but Aria does. The younger girl looks so cute when she gets excited when SpongeBob comes on and Spencer just can't make herself tell Aria she doesn't like it.

Hearing the theme song, Aria looks up. "Ooh, SpongeBob's on, yay!" She comes over and sits with Spencer on one of the beanbag chairs.

"We can watch this episode and then I have to do my chores," Spencer says. "Mama says I can do the chores that I would normally do when we are getting ready for company today instead of tomorrow."

"What do you have to do?"

"I have to make sure the bathrooms have towels, soap, and toilet paper. I have to make sure there are paper towels in the kitchen. Then, I have to vacuum and sweep the floors in here. Mel has to do all of that in the main house, just in case we go in there instead of in here, plus she has to help Daddy carry the tables and chairs out of the storage room."

"I can help some! I can do the sweeping and maybe the vacuuming. Do you have to ask your mom if I can help, or can I just do it?"

Spencer shrugs. "I don't think I have to ask, but I can tell Mama just in case. We can do it after we finish this episode of SpongeBob, okay?"

**_:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/_**

**_*Later in the evening*_**

Later, after Spencer and Aria do their homework, – just a simple page of math, and their regular reading assignment, – it is time for the chores.

Spencer goes inside to ask about Aria helping her.

"Sure, Sweetheart," Veronica tells her. "If Aria wants to help, then she is more than welcome to do so."

"Great! Thanks, Mama!" … "Ar, Mom says you can help. Do you want to vacuum, sweep, or put towels and toilet paper in the bathroom?"

"I'll do the vacuuming. That's what I do to help my mom." Spencer shows her where the vacuum cleaner is and then goes to get the broom and dustpan. By the time Aria has finished in the living room and playroom, Spencer is finishing up in the dining room.

Next, the two girls gather the sheets and pillowcases from the bunk beds and the blankets from the couch to take inside for Veronica to wash.

After that, they put in a movie and play with the Legos for a while. Aria is going to spend the night but leave early tomorrow to help with making the pies and stuff for Thanksgiving on Thursday.

"Hey!" Spencer hears Melissa calling out in the main room so she jumps up and opens the playroom door. "Spence, Mom and Dad are making a fire outside. We are going to have hot dogs and s'mores. Aria, we have vegan hot dogs for you, if you want them."

"Yeah, let's go! Aria, did'ja hear? We're having a cookout!" The two race outside after grabbing their tennis shoes and a couple of sweatshirts and blankets.

Halfway through getting the fire started and some more wood gathered, everyone gets a surprise when Spencer's two uncles, Richard Pierce (Veronica's brother) and Richard's partner, James McDaniel, pull up in the driveway.

They have just recently adopted a sibling group, the adoption being finalized in April of this year, and this is the first Thanksgiving they will celebrate with their family.

Veronica knows about her brother being gay, she has since he came out to the family nearly 7 years ago.

The thing is, Peter has no idea. Veronica is kind of scared to tell him. She has no idea how he will react. Although she is only like this because she thought her parents would be the most accepting out of their entire family.

It turns out, Veronica and Richards's super-religious, God loving, goes-to-church-every-Sunday grandparents were more accepting than their parents.

Now, the only family Richard has are his grandparents on his mother's side (his father's parents died when his father was a teenager), his sister Veronica, his older sister Jessica, her husband, and family, his younger sister Alexandra, her husband, and family, and his younger brother Zachary.

His younger brother, Nicholas, and his family take after Veronica and Richard's parents; they believe he is committing a sin, and want nothing to do with Richard, James, or their children. This is also the case with several of Richard's aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Spencer absolutely loves her Uncle Rick and Uncle James. She was the flower girl at their wedding last year, which Peter did not attend because he thought they were just going away for the weekend to see Veronica's grandparents (he could not get away from work to go with them).

When they get out of the car, Spencer goes running over with Mel and Aria following her.

"Uncle Rick! Uncle Jaime! You're here!" Rick picks up his niece in a hug, spinning her around.

"Hey! There's my favorite sixth-grade niece!"

"Uncle Rick! I'm your _only_ sixth-grade niece!"

"Well, then I guess it makes for easy competition, huh?" Spencer just giggles at this.

"Uncle Rick, Uncle Jamie, this is my new best friend, Aria Montgomery. We met this year in school, in September."

Aria just smiles shyly, not used to so many new people.

"Well, hello there, Aria Montgomery," Rick holds out a hand, which Aria takes and he gently shakes it. "It is very nice to meet you." Aria returns the greeting quietly.

Veronica comes over then. She asks Mel and Spencer to take their cousins and Aria to the barn because she needs to speak with James and Richard about some "grownup" stuff, aka she needs to tell Peter that her gay brother is, well, gay and married to a man.

Once they are out of earshot, Veronica calls Peter over to introduce everyone. Melissa tells Spencer to keep Aria and the others in the playroom, while she listens in on the conversation. She opens a window next to the door and sits on the floor, listening to what is going on.

* * *

_**Wednesday, November 21st, 2001**_

* * *

**_*Next day. Around mid-morning*_**

Today is Wednesday. It is the day before Thanksgiving and currently, 11-year-old Aria Montgomery is in the car with 11-year-old Spencer Hastings, 18-year-old Melissa Hastings, and their cousin, 8-year-old Kaitlyn McDaniel.

They are going up to Binghamton, New York to spend Thanksgiving with Veronica and Richard's little sister, Alexandra and her husband Tomás. They are just 26 years old and are expecting their first baby in March. Peter is staying home and will not be attending the trip.

They are taking three and a half hours to drive to their destination. They want to be there to help with lunch preparation for tomorrow. So, Veronica picks Aria up at her house at 12 p.m. and everyone goes for lunch at McDonald's before getting on the road.

Now, you may be wondering what happened. The short explanation is that, just as she knew it might happen, Peter was not so accepting towards James, Richard, or their children.

Veronica was not going to let that dampen things, however, so she decided she, Richard, James, and the kids would go up to Binghamton, New York, and spend Thanksgiving with their sister Alex and her husband, Tomás.

Aria is coming just because she wanted to. She does not know the details, but she can pretty much guess that the talk did not go well, because she knows that Spencer is very upset with her father.

Ella and Byron, at first, did not want to let Aria go. After all, this is the Hastings family and their time to spend Thanksgiving with each other.

However, Aria begged and pleaded with them to be able to go, she wanted to be there, as moral support for Spencer. She needs to be there for Spencer, she said. Spencer needs her friend. They talked with Veronica and decided to let her go. After all, Aria has never had a real friend before. She's never begged to go anywhere that involved a friend and their family.

It is about halfway through the trip. Since Melissa is the oldest kid in the car, and the others are all 11 or younger, they have just made a stop for bathroom breaks and some ice cream at Sonic.

Now, they are playing a game of I Spy.

"I Spy, with my little eye, something that is green," Katie says.

"Hmm," Veronica thinks for a moment. There are several things that are green or has green in them; her purse, Aria's backpack, Spencer's bracelet, and the keychain that has the car keys on it, which are in the ignition right now.

However, as Katie has proven before, she isn't meaning anything that would be easy.

Let's see, I think it may be…" Veronica turns around and catches sight of something. "Your earrings."

"Yup! You got it right, Auntie 'Ronica!"

This goes on for a while, Spencer, Aria, Veronica, Mel, Katie, and James taking turns.

The kids get bored of it soon and get out their own things to play with. Katie gets her coloring book and crayons out; Mel gets her Walkman to listen to music, and Spencer and Aria share headphones while watching a movie on their portable DVD player.

**_:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/_**

**_*Later*_**

When they finally arrive in Binghamton, New York, the kids eagerly get out of the car and race up to the front door of Alex and Tomás. James and Katie's siblings pull up behind Veronica and Richard.

Although it did not do it in Rosewood, it seems that overnight, Binghamton received a light dusting of snow. It covers the grass and trees, the driveway and part of the roof.

"Aunt Alex!" Spencer calls out as she opens the door to let herself and the others in. "Uncle Tomás! We have arrived!" Aria giggles at the way Spencer worded the sentence and follows the kids as they hang up their jackets and put their boots by the door in a line.

"Come on, Ar! I can't wait for you to meet Alex and Tomás. They are the best." They find the couple in the kitchen, preparing lunch for the day – spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, salad, and iced tea.

Veronica called ahead to let them know of Aria's peanut allergy, so Alex disposed of the peanuts, peanut butter, and other related items, while Tomás went through and cleaned all surfaces (doorknobs, countertops, etc.) to make sure there was no way Aria could have a reaction.

They also are going to surprise Aria with her own little pot of vegan spaghetti. They have never known their niece, Spencer to speak about a friend the way she does with Aria.

The little girl is all the young Hastings can talk about when she does her weekly phone call to Alex and Tomás.

So, when Spencer said that Aria is vegan, and that she, herself, usually eats vegan with Aria, Alex immediately suggested to Tomás that they make a run to the grocery store to get the things needed for vegan spaghetti (they may have also phoned Ella and Byron, to make sure Aria actually likes it).

"Hello, girls!" Alex greets as she gives Spencer a hug.

"Hi, Auntie Alex. This is my friend, Aria Montgomery." Spencer introduces as Aria comes to stand closer to her.

"Hi, Mrs. Martin," Aria greets, holding out a hand. Alex just smiles gently and pulls the young girl in for a hug, her 5-month belly kind of getting in the way.

"Please, sweetheart, call me Alex. This is my husband, Tomás." Aria greets him also. Veronica, James, and Richard get in there with the rest of the kids. Everyone greets Alex and Tomás and then they set the table, wash their hands, and sit down to eat.

Later on, the kids help the adults prepare some pies and the basics for tomorrow like potato salad, the stuffing, and two different "regular" salads. Then, they watch some movies and talk about maybe setting up the Christmas tree sometime later in the afternoon.

* * *

_**Thanksgiving 2001**_

* * *

**_*Late-Morning*_**

It is just before lunch the next day. The older kids, Melissa and her cousins, who are 17 and 16 years old, set the three long tables with plates, silverware, condiments, and napkins, while the younger kids, Spencer, Aria, and Spencer's same-aged cousins, help carry in the cups of ice that will soon be filled with iced tea.

Once the cups are set out, they go back to the basement where they are hanging out, watching TV, and playing games.

About an hour before lunch, Spencer's aunt and uncle, Jessica and Kenneth Dilaurentis, and her cousins arrive to the house. They have a whopping _10 children_, so it took them a while to get everyone ready. They also had to drive about 5 hours to get here.

"Hanna!" Spencer yells out to her cousin, 12-year-old, Hanna Dilaurentis.

The funny thing about the Dilaurentis family?

They don't _just_ have 10 kids. All ten are a set of _twins_.

For example, the older of the bunch are 18-year-old twins, Jason Matthew and Mason James. Yeah, Jessica and Kenneth sort of regret naming them rhyming names. At least they are non-fraternal twins, which means they look nothing alike.

Next are twins Charlotte Faith and Vivian Grace. They are 16 years old. Like her brothers, Vivian is in the ninth grade due to being held back, while Charlotte is in the tenth grade.

And after them, come the girl Spencer just called to, Hanna Olivia Dilaurentis. Her twin sister is Alison Lauren, and they are both 12 years old, which puts them in the sixth grade with Aria and Spencer.

Twin boys are next – Ashton John, who goes by AJ, and Malachi Jordan. He goes by 'Kai'. They are 9 years old. AJ is in the fourth grade while Kai skipped ahead and is in the fifth grade.

Finally, the babies of the family – 5-year-old twins Isabella Hope and Hadley Joy. Izzy is still in preschool, even though she is turning six, while Hadley moved ahead and is in Kindergarten.

"Hi, Spence!" Hanna runs over. She is dressed in brown leggings and a white long–sleeve shirt that has a picture of turkey and the words _Happy Thanksgiving *gobble gobble*_.

"Hanna, this is my friend, Aria," Spencer tells the blonde. "Ar, this is my cousin, Hanna Dilaurentis." Aria waves to her. Spencer glances around, looking for her other cousin, Hanna's twin sister, Alison.

"Are you looking for Ali?" Hanna asks and Spencer nods. "Come over here, and I'll tell you what happened." Hanna leads Spencer and Aria over to the stairs and opens a door. There is a little room, which is supposed to be for storage since it is under the staircase, but Spencer and her cousins use it to hang out.

It is a tiny room, no taller than four feet and no bigger than about 4x3 feet. They go in and sit down on the beanbags.

"Before I say anything, you have to _promise_ not to tell _anyone_. Not Mel, not Uncle Peter or Aunt Vera, not our other cousins, – _no one_. Okay?" Spencer and Aria nod to this, the younger girl wondering what her cousin could have possible done to not be here _and_ for Hanna to be so insistent on them not saying anything.

"You know how Ali has been in trouble this year for bullying, right?" Spencer nods. Aria does, too, because Spencer has told her all about her twin cousins. She said that even though Hanna and Alison may look alike, they are completely different people.

Alison is the one that's mean. She teases her younger siblings and cousins. She is always trying to compete with Spencer, in school with their grades and what kind of sports they play. In addition, this year, Alison has been getting in trouble for bullying some of her classmates and the younger kids at school.

Where Ali and Hanna live, it is a super small town. So small, that the Elementary, Middle, and High schools are all on one campus.

Ali and her clique of friends have gotten in trouble for making fun of a classmate who is less fortunate and has to wear clothes from the Goodwill and old tennis shoes instead of the hottest new pair that is out for kids.

She's gotten in trouble for teasing the younger kids, particular those younger than grade three, on the playground and in the hallway.

"Well, Friday, Ali got into _really big_ trouble. We were riding the bus home with Izzy, AJ, Kai, and Hadley, and when we got home, everything seemed ok. Ali didn't get in trouble with the principle or anything, and Mom and Daddy were really happy about that."

"Everything seemed to be good. That is, until a couple hours after we got home, and the police called!" Spencer's eyes widen at this. "One of the kids on our bus, a boy named Taylor – you know, the one with Autism, – was missing! He's like, the second or third person that gets off so when he didn't show up, his parents were really worried."

"What happened?" Aria asks, 100% intrigued by now.

"They called the school and the school contacted the bus driver who said Taylor never got on the bus. So that made Taylor's parents call the police. And the police spoke to some of his friends – Leah, Jess, and Aiden. They all three told the police that they last saw Taylor when he was going to math class, cause, you know, Taylor is _super_ smart. So he goes to regular math class instead of his Special Ed classroom."

"After that, the police searched the school and the woods behind the school. Our whole town helped – neighbors, friends, everyone. They looked at the ponds and the rivers first cause Mom said that kids with Autism are drawn to water."

"After searching for over an hour, one the kids in Ali's Mean Girl group finally told the truth."

"Which was?"

"That after math class, Ali and some of the other girls told Taylor that they wanted to show him something. Mom says that having Autism makes it harder for him to know when someone is being deceitful, like, when they are telling a lie or making fun of him instead of being sincere. And well, Alison was smiling so Taylor thought that meant she was being sincere. Taylor followed Ali and her friends, and they put him in a locker!"

"What?!"

"Yeah! And because Taylor is non-verbal, which means he does not talk, then when the police were looking for him in the hallways, he couldn't yell out. So Stephanie, Alison's friend, told the police what locker Taylor was in and they looked and finally got him out."

"Are you serious?" Spencer knew Alison was a brat and was mean to kids at school, but she honestly didn't think that her cousin was capable of being so malicious that she would lock a child with Autism, or any child for that matter, in a locker.

"What did Aunt Jess and Uncle Ken do?" Knowing her aunt and uncle, they would have been _furious_, she wonders what Alison's punishment for this could possibly have been.

"Oh, they were so mad! Like, nothing Alison has ever done has made them that made, not even that time that Ali got caught stealing candy from the store! The Principle suspended Alison and the other girls for two weeks! And the girl that told the police what happened, Stephanie, she only got three days, because she said she knew what was going to happen, but wasn't involved. So for not telling anyone, she got three days instead of two weeks."

"Alison and the others also have detention at lunch and after school for either three weeks or a month. Mom and Daddy are going to sit down with Taylor's paretns and talk about that. And Alison is not allowed to play soccer any this season, – her coach benched her!"

"Oh, my god!" The normally reserved and quiet Aria gasps out. "That's terrible! I mean, n-not about h-her being benched, but–… But what she did to Taylor!"

"Yeah, and Alison is grounded until further notice, that's what Mom and Daddy actually said, 'You are grounded until further notice.' Not only that, but Ali doesn't get any Christmas presents! Like, on Saturday, they took all the presents that they had gotten her, – some wrapped, other were not, – and they loaded them into the car and took Alison, and made her give them to the kids at the shelters and at the hospital."

"The ones that are coming in the mail, or that Mom was going to get on Black Friday, she's said she is not going to get them, and the ones that are ordered are going to the hospital, too."

"And that's not all. It is has been so long since this happened, but Daddy spanked Ali! The last time he did that was when she was 6! I kinda of eavesdropped on this part, but he gave her 4 swats, one for each hour that Taylor was in the locker."

"Since we only have three week until Christmas break, the principle says Alison will be suspended for two weeks. Then, after Christmas break, she will have her lunch and after school detention for how ever long Mom, Daddy, and Taylor's paretns decide on. Also, during those two weeks, for recess that is after lunch, Alison will have to help clean the cafeteria. You know, sweep the floors, pick up trash, and help wipe the tables."

"Mom and Daddy actually suggested that one. They said they didn't think detention and suspension was enough, and wanted her to go without recess also. And, cause you know, she _hates_ cleaning or helping to do _anything_. So this will definitely be considered a punishment to her."

"So, she's suspended for a two weeks, has detention for maybe three weeks or a month, gets no recess for two weeks, gets no Christmas presents, _and_ she got spanked." Spencer lists off and Hanna nods.

"Good!" Aria cuts in. "I-I mean, n-not to be rude or an-anything, but she deserves all of that. Taylor could have hurt himself. People with Autism usually don't like the dark or enclosed spaces, and he could have had a panic attack or hurt himself while having a meltdown if the panic attacked made him overwhelmed and unable to calm down. She's lucky he was ok!"

Hanna nods. "Yeah, that's what Mom and Daddy told her. That she could have been in worse trouble than what she is if he had been hurt or anything. The police were not happy, they actually recommended that Mom and Daddy go a step further than their normal punishments, to make sure Alison understands how serious this was – that's why Daddy spanked her and he and Mom took her Christmas gifts away, instead of just grounding her."

"So, what about now?" Spencer asks. "Why is Ali not here?"

"She stayed home. She was being really smart mouth. And she was picking on Izzy and Hadley since them and us can watch TV and play with our video games and stuff, and she can't. So, Mom and Daddy found someone to babysit her, which she was _not_ happy about. She is going to do chores – sweeping, washing the dishes, folding _everyone's_ clean clothes. And she will not be having a happy Thanksgiving."

Spencer, Hanna, and Aria talk a bit longer. Hanna mentions how their parents might send Ali to boarding school and Spencer tells them that she hopes Alison straightens up soon.

After a little bit longer, the adults call them for lunch. The kids under the age of 12 go to the one table. The other table is for the older kids, 13 and up, which has about eight guests.

The adult table consists of Jamie, Rick, Veronica, Alex and her husband, Tomás, Jessica, her husband, Kenneth, and the Pierces' grandparents.

Before they eat, everyone goes around and tells two things that they are thankful for. They thank god for their food and good health, and then they start eating.

Afterwards, the kids bundle up and head outside to play in the snow.

"Come on, Ar!" Spencer calls out. "Let's build a snowman!"

The kids play, build snowmen and snowforts, and have snowball fights for the better part of two hours before they get too cold. They go in for hot cocoa with marshmallows, warm up by the fire, and watch movies down in the basement.

The Hastings extend their trip to late afternoon on Friday. After leftovers for lunch, more playtime in the snow, and the kids watching one more movie, James, Richard, and Veronica gather their children and get on the road for home.

Jamie and Rick head off for their own house once they arrive at the Hastings' house.

Mel goes to meet up with some friends at the mall and then heads to one's house for a sleepover, and Veronica drops Spencer off with Aria at her home. She knows that neither girl wants to be home and around Peter right now.

* * *

**Wow! This chapter got a little out of hand but you did get to meet one of Melissa and Spencer's cousins – Hanna Dilaurentis. In this story, Hanna and Alison are twins, so Ashley and Tom Marin do not exist.**

**Now, I know that, since this is the very first mention of Alison, that you guys did not get a very good first impression of her. What I did is like, one of the worst possible things I could have her do. I have had this chapter written for months, and I knew right away that I wanted Alison to do something like she did to Taylor.**

**To be honest, she has a reason for acting out, and for the bullying, and for her behavior. It is ****_not_**** an excuse for what she and her friends did to Taylor, but these actions are not because she is just a bad person.**

**The reason will be revealed once The Dilaurentises actually move to Rosewood and interact more with Sparia. Right now, they do not go to school with Spencer and Aria, as they live in a different part of Pennsylvania.**

**Please review and let me know what you thought! :)**


	8. Character Reference Page

**Notes: This page is for the characters' ages, grades, families, etc. I am going to be showing a lot of them, and this will be for future reference. ****Once I start showing Spencer's cousins more, then AJ, Hadley, and Isabella's profile will be extended, as well as Emily and her family being brought in.**

**Ages as of: December 2001**

* * *

_**Montgomery Family:**_

_**Aria Marie Montgomery:**_

**Parents: Ella and Byron Montgomery.**

**Siblings: Little brother (Michael "Mike"; 9 years old).**

**Birthday: April 20****th****, 1990**

**Age/Grade: 11 years old; sixth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: wavy, dark brown hair; hazel/green eyes.**

**Height: shorter than average – 4'6"**

**Other Notes: **Aria loves drawing. Her favorite Special Class is art. She gets both A's and B's in school, and at the moment does not struggle with anything. The teachers all adore her. Aria does have trouble with one specific teacher – a substitute – who intimidates the kids with their food allergies, Aria's being an allergy to peanuts. This substitute teacher will be dealt with soon, however.

Aria is a very polite little girl, mostly keeping to herself. And while she is incredibly quiet and shy, Spencer is slowly helping her come out of her shell. She enjoys spending time with her new best friend, Spencer Hastings. She adores her little brother, Michael, and always includes him in her and Spencer's plans.

_**Michael "Mike" Vincent Montgomery:**_

**Parents: Ella & Byron Montgomery.**

**Siblings: Older sister (Aria; 11 years old).**

**Birthday: May 15****th****, 1992**

**Age/Grade: 9 years old; fourth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: wavy, dark brown hair; hazel/green eyes.**

**Height: average height – 4'4½"**

**Other Notes:** Mike is your average 9-year-old little boy. He loves school, though he needs help sometimes with math, particularly the multiplication and division. His favorite subjects are science and history. His favorite time is recess, because he gets to play with his big sister and her best friend.

Mike usually gets sent to the Principal's Office for fighting the kids who bully his sister, although that has not happened in several months, since Aria met Spencer Hastings.

Mike also loves Spencer. He is appreciative of the fact that Spencer is not only standing up for his sister, but also is teaching Aria how to stand up for _herself_. Spencer is sure to include Mike in their plans, and Spencer's Uncle Jamie is the reason that Mike is on the Peewee football team at Rosewood Elementary school.

* * *

_**Hastings Family:**_

_**Melissa Josephine Hastings:**_

**Parents: Veronica & Peter Hastings**

**Siblings: 1; Younger sister (Spencer; 11 years old).**

**Future Siblings: TBA**

**Birthday: November 14****th****, 1983**

**Age/Grade: 17 years old; twelfth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: long, dark brown/brown eyes**

**Height: average height – 5'5"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Jason/Mason Dilaurentis  
***** Charlotte/Vivian Dilaurentis  
***** Hanna/Alison Dilaurentis  
***** Ashton/Malachi Dilaurentis  
***** Isabella/Hadley Dilaurentis**

**Other Notes: **Melissa is a highly competitive person. She and her younger sister, Spencer Hastings, sometimes fight over who is better, but at the end of the day, Melissa is very protective of her. Mel is going to study to be a lawyer in college and follow her parents' example.

_**Spencer Jill Hastings:**_

**Parents: Veronica & Peter Hastings**

**Siblings: 1; Older sister (Melissa; 16 years old)**

**Future Siblings: TBA**

**Birthday: March 25****th****, 1990**

**Age/Grade: 11 years old; sixth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: wavy, light brown hair' brown eyes**

**Height: taller than average – 5'2"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Jason/Mason Dilaurentis  
***** Charlotte/Vivian Dilaurentis  
***** Hanna/Alison Dilaurentis  
***** Ashton/Malachi Dilaurentis  
***** Isabella/Hadley Dilaurentis**

**Other Notes: **Spencer is very athletic and very smart for her age. She enjoys Language Arts and History, hanging out with her new best friend, Aria Montgomery, and is going to join the Field Hockey team in seventh grade. Spencer is the kind of student who gets either all A's, or A's and B's, and her assignments are always completed on.

Though she is polite and well-behaved, Spencer may be what is considered "impolite" whenever she is sticking up for best friend. This will have to do with the substitute teacher that will cause problems with Aria, over her allergy to peanuts. Spencer is very protective of her best friend, Aria, and her family.

* * *

_**Dilaurentis Family**_

_**Jason Matthew Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Twin brother (Mason; 18 years old), younger sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – ), younger sister (Vivian 16 years old – twin), younger sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), younger sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: September 8****th****, 1983**

**Age/Grade: 18 years old; twelfth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: brown hair/brown eyes, freckles**

**Height: average height – 5'7"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings****  
**

**Notes: **Jason plays Lacrosse at school. He seems like the Golden Boy – straight A's, prettiest Cheerleader as his girlfriend, and the Captain of his Lacrosse team. At home, Jason loves playing with his little sisters. Sometimes, he gives Hadley and Isabella their baths, and always, _always_ can be found playing dress up with them, or showing them how to write, read, etc.

He never smarts off to his parents, and Jess & Ken try their best not to be the kind of parents who say _look at your brother, why can't you be like him?_ to their son, Mason. However, not all is as seems. Jason seems like the perfect child – takes extra chores when needed, spontaneously vacuums/cleans the house, does errands without complaining – but there are some dark secrets he harbors, and soon…

The skeletons of his past will all be shoved face-first out of his closet.

_**Mason James Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Twin brother (Jason; 18 years old), younger sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – ), younger sister (Vivian 16 years old – twin), younger sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), younger sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: September 8****th****, 1983**

**Age/Grade: 18 years old; tenth grade (held back x2)**

**Hair/Eye color: sandy blonde hair/hazel eyes, freckles**

**Height: average height – 5'6"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes: **Mason does not play any sports. He has ADHD, which makes it hard to focus in class and complete his work. Because of this, he was held back twice, being in the tenth grade instead of a senior. Mason is usually very sweet, playing with his younger siblings, but he does have impulse problems, trouble remembering things, etc. due to his ADHD.

Jess and Kenneth worry about him, because though he is 18, his "mental age" is that of about a 14-year-old. He enjoys wrestling with Ash and Kai, though they both do not, and exploring the woods behind his house.

Jessica and Kenneth are also worried about what being held back twice will due to his self-esteem in the future, when he reaches the twelfth grade, and is 20 years old. They wonder if it will cause him to get in trouble with the Law, which, thankfully, has not happened yet, as well as his friends, the other students possibly bullying him, or even what the teachers may say, and what this will do to his self-esteem and his ambition to do well in school.

**_Charlotte Faith Dilaurentis:_**

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; 10; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), twin sister (Vivian; 16 years old – twin), younger sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), younger sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: December 27th, 1984**

**Age/Grade: 17 years old; tenth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: blonde hair/blue eyes, freckles**

**Height: taller than average – 5'6"**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes: **Charlotte is your average teenager. She is sweet, like her brother, Mason, however, being sixteen does mean she has her moments of being smart mouth. She is not in any sports but does enjoy doing piano, and also teaching it to Hadley and Isabella. She also enjoys taking photography classes, and will bond with Aria with this.

Unlike her twin sister, Charlotte is in the tenth grade, also along with her brother, Mason. She loves him to death, and gets in trouble for fighting with the other kids who make fun of him being a sophomore at 18.

Charlotte is extremely protecting of her siblings and friends, and, though she teases them, she will do absolutely anything to protect them. She worries about Alison, and why she is acting out all of a sudden, and hopes to find the answer soon.

**_Vivian Grace Dilaurentis:_**

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), twin sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), younger sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), younger sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: December 27th, 1984**

**Age/Grade: 17 years old; ninth grade (held back)**

**Hair/Eye color: blonde hair/blue eyes, freckles**

**Height: taller than average – 5'8"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:** Vivian, what is there to say? She is sweet and polite, as Jessica and Kenneth have raised her to be. She is in the ninth grade, due to being held back a year. She struggles with math and with writing, getting mostly B's and a couple of D's, but is getting help. She is often bullied because of this. She has a math tutor, takes a special therapy to help with her writing, and due to this, she takes her frustrations out on her family. Vivian teases her siblings, smarts off to her parents, and is just downright _cruel_ sometimes.

Jess & Ken are having trouble with her. They so desperately want to help, but she just will not _talk to them_. They refuse to punish her too harshly, instead, asking her to do a few extra chores and to go to the garage with Ken to punch a punching bag when she is overwhelmed and starting to be "mean sissy" as the little kids call her. Soon, Vivian's behavior will become too much even for Jessica & Kenneth, and drastic measures will have to be taken.

_**Hanna Olivia Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), twin sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: July 18****th****, 1989**

**Age/Grade: 12 years old; sixth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: blonde hair/blue eyes, dimples**

**Height: average height – 4'9"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:** Hanna Dilaurentis is your usual bubbling 12-year-old. She gets all B's, loves art class, and is just all-around fun to be with. Hanna is the exact opposite of twin sister, Alison. She is super sweet and extremely polite, (unless you make fun of/hurt those she loves), but sometimes is just a little to blunt/lacks tact.

Right now, she is friends with her cousin, Spencer Hastings, and Spence's new friend, Aria Montgomery. She absolutely adores Aria, and looks forward to the Holidays when her family makes their way to Rosewood to the Hastingses. Hanna is not struggling with much right now, in school, but will have trouble with math and a little bit of science later.

In her personal life, she just wishes she _understood_ why her twin sister is so mean and so difficult on their parents. She remembers when they were younger, about Haddie & Izzy's age, four or five, and Alison was extremely nice. They were best friends, did everything together, and then…

It changed just days after their sixth birthday. And right now, Hanna hopes that, someday, _soon_, she will find out what is going on with her sister.

_**Alison Lauren Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), twin sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), younger brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: July 18****th****, 1989**

**Age/Grade: 12 years old; sixth grade**

**Hair/Eye color: blonde hair/blue eyes, dimples, freckles**

**Height: average height – 5'0"**

**Other family;**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:** Alison Dilaurentis is certainly a mystery. Ali is… sweet sometimes and sour other times. Ali… gets mostly A's with a few B's. And Alison… well, she has been causing trouble for about six years now. She bullies the kids at school, steals from the other kids and her siblings, and most recently, locked a little boy named Taylor, who has Autism, in a locker. He was there four hours before anyone found him.

Alison, well, underneath it all, she is struggling with a very dark secret. She is gentle and well-mannered and caring and is _so protective_ of her little siblings, though she will _fight you_ when someone hurts Hadley or Isabella.

They are almost six, she reminds herself, she cannot let what happened to her happen to them. Alison hopes that, one day, someone will figure her secret out, because being the bad kid is getting to be really exhausting.

_**Ashton John Dilaurentis: "AJ"**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), older sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), older sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), twin brother (Malachi; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: February 1st, 1992**

**Age/Grade: 9 years old; third grade (held back)**

**Hair/Eye color: brown hair/hazel eyes, dimples**

**Height: average height – 4'3" exactly**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:**

_**Malachi Jordan Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), older sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), older sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), twin brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), younger sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin), youngest sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin)**

**Birthday: February 1st, 1992**

**Age/Grade: 9 years old; fifth grade (skipped)**

**Hair/Eye color: brown hair/hazel eyes, dimples**

**Height: average height – 4'3 exactly**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:** Malachi Jordan, wow. If there was a "Most Obsessed with Legos" award, Malachi would defiantly win it. Learning to read at four, and already accomplishing fifth grade level math when his fellow peers were just starting multiplication, Malachi has skipped a grade and is now in the fifth grade. He is so, so _funny_. He loves to joke, loves to make people laugh and smile. He is smart and well-mannered, and he _never_ smarts off. He helps his siblings and friends with their homework, and is complimented all the time about his behavior at school.

Malachi is an identical twin and is sometimes referred to as "the super-smart twin" which can only mean one thing… his brother, AJ, is "the other twin" or "the not-super-smart twin" which, honestly, _pisses him off_. Because AJ is _most definitely_ smart. He excels at fourth grade reading and math, but struggles with Science, writing, and Social Studies. Malachi likes to help his brother with these things and, as much as he can at 9 years old, he tries to comfort him into believing that he _is_ smart.

Like his siblings, Malachi wonders Alison has become so mean. Though he was only 3 when her bad behavior started, he still remembers how nice she was. How sweet and funny and _cool_ it was that, at six years old, she considered him and AJ, then the "babies" of the family, to be her best friends. He hopes, one day, he can figure out what is going on.

_**Isabella Hope Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), older sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), older sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), older brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), older brother (Malachi; 9 years old), twin sister (Hadley; 5 years old – twin).**

**Birthday: May 8th, 1996**

**Age/Grade: 5 years old; preschool (held back)**

**Hair/Eye color: dirty blonde hair/bluish-green eyes, dimples, freckles**

**Height: average height – 3'6"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:**

_**Hadley Joy Dilaurentis:**_

**Parents: Jessica & Kenneth Dilaurentis**

**Siblings: 9; Older brother (Jason; 18 years old), older brother (Mason; 18 years old), older sister (Charlotte; 16 years old – twin), older sister (Vivian; 18 years old – twin), older sister (Alison; 12 years old – twin), older sister (Hanna; 12 years old – twin), older brother (Ashton; 9 years old – twin), older brother (Malachi; 9 years old), twin sister (Isabella; 5 years old – twin).**

**Birthday: May 8th, 1996**

**Age/Grade: 5 years old; kindergarten**

**Hair/Eye color: little darker/dirty blonde hair/green eyes, dimples, freckles**

**Height: very small/shorter – 3'0"**

**Other family:**

**Cousins**

*** Melissa Hastings  
* Spencer Hastings**

**Notes:**

* * *

**So, I want to apologize in advance. Remember when I said Alison has a reason to be acting out? Yeah, well…**

**It will be revealed no later than chapter 12.**

**And yes, the Dilaurentises have 10 kids, all of which are twins. It is an on-going tease/joke – ****_you shouldn't have anymore, you'll only have twins again!_**

**Besides Hanna/Alison and Jason/Mason, Jessica and Kenneth thought Charlotte, Ashton, and Isabella were going to be singlets.**

**Next chapter should be up soon. i have it completed, and chapter 7 is almost ready. Then I will have 3 chapters prewritten, and hopefully it will not be so long in-between updates this time. :)**


	9. A Sparia Christmas pt 1

**Disclaimers: I do not own PLL or the characters.  
Spoilers: None  
Rating: K+**

**Thank you to those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited so far. ****Now that I have the storyline figured out, the updates should be steadier.**

**Notes: Christmas with our girls! Also, I am going to have Spencer believe in Santa Clause. I know most stories have her figuring that out at a young age, but I really wanted to do something different, so here, she, the girls, and their siblings (minus Charlotte, Vivian, Jason, Mason, and Melissa) are going to believe for several more years.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**_*Hastings Residence*_**

For the last several weeks, directly after the Hastings and Aria got home from their Thanksgiving trip, Veronica had gotten the Hastings' Christmas tree out of storage, along with the lights and decorations.

They did the lights around the front door, the staircase, the fireplace mantel, and the bushes outside first.

Next were the lawn decorations – the inflatable Santa Clause, Reindeers, and Frosty the Snowman.

"Watch this, Ar!" Spencer had yelled out, when she saw Aria coming back outside after getting her hot chocolate that was on the dining room table.

She knows that _Frost the Snowman_ was Aria's favorite movie, so she and her mom, over the weekend, had went to Wal*Mart to get a blowup yard decoration of Frosty the Snowman.

Aria was thrilled by it, and she excitedly pushed the button that would begin the air pump, which would blow up the snowman.

Afterwards, Aria and Spencer took a break to go hang out in the barn.

They watched some Christmas-themed TV shows, baked cookies that were vegan gingerbread and sugar cookies, and then decorated the playroom how they wanted – Veronica gave them a box of lights and decorations all to themselves.

* * *

_**December 14**__**th**__**, 2001**_

* * *

On Friday, the one before the week they get out for Christmas break, Spencer asks Aria to go home to her house because she needs to talk to her mom about a last minute present.

"Mammmmaaa…!" Spencer whines as she comes down the stairs from her bedroom. She was up in her room wrapping two of Aria's presents. She hopes her friend will like what she got her.

The first present actually had several "parts". It is VCR tapings of episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants, Aria's favorite TV show. She took 7 blank VCR tapes and recorded 4 episodes of Spongebob on six of them. The seventh tape has 6 episodes, recorded in the last couple of months.

Then, the second gift is a t-shirt. Veronica helped Spencer with this one. The young Hastings wanted something that would signify the friendship between the two girls. So, Veronica helped Spencer design a shirt, and then took that design to someone who could make it come to life.

The shirts are both red in color; the front proudly declares _Team Sparia_, above a picture of Spencer and Aria.

As soon as Veronica showed her the end result, Spencer was so excited to give it to Aria. She remembers last month, while they visited Spencer's family for Thanksgiving, that they officially became "Team Sparia".

**_*Flashback*_**

**_When: Thanksgiving break  
Where: Alex and Tomás's house_**

**_"_****_You know, Spence," Hanna says. "We should do a combination of yours and Aria's name, you know, like we did with ours."_**

**_Aria perks up at this, interesting in what exactly Hanna means. She asks and Hanna responds with, "Well, we took both of our names, and then put them together. Like mine and Spence's, we did Hanna + Spencer and we took away the 'H' in my name, and replaced it with the 'Sp' from Spence's name."_**

**_Seeing that Aria is a little confused, Hanna grabs a notebook and a broken orange crayon. She writes "Hanna" and then "Spencer" and then writes "S-p-a-n-n-a" below the two names._**

**_"_****_See?"_**

**_Aria understands completely now, and she nods. "That seems really cool! How do you say it?"_**

**_"_****_It's just pronounced as 'Spanna'," The blonde answers. "We can do yours and Spence's, if you want."_**

**_Aria looks to Spencer first, to make sure the older girl actually wants to do it, and does not think it would be silly or weird or stupid to do it with someone she is not related to._**

**_But Spencer smiles and nods, answering with, "If you want, we can do it, Little One."_**

**_Aria grins at that, now completely at ease with this new girl (Spencer's cousin), and she nods eagerly. "Yeah, let's do it! Will you get me a green crayon?"_**

**_Once the crayon is in her hand, Hanna gives her the notebook as well, and then two cousins gather around the younger girl._**

**_Aria writes "Aria" and "Spencer" on the page._**

**_"_****_Let's see if we can add 'Spencer" to your name, Aria."_**

**_The three work at it for a while and come up with several, not-any-good choices:_**

**_Aricer – no! that looks horrible._**

**_Arspencer – that looks a misspelling of 'sharpener'_**

**_Aspencer – sounds like that time Izzy had a lisp and couldn't pronounce my name correctly._**

**_"_****_Okay, Genius," Hanna finally says. "Why don't we do your name first, like we did with mine."_**

**_Aria thinks about it, looking to the top of the page, and then writing 'S-p-a-r-i-a'…_**

**_"_****_Spar-e-uh… Sparia,"_**

**_Hanna nods approvingly. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Spence?"_**

**_Aria watches for her reaction. She smiles. "Yeah, it does. Team Sparia. What do you think, Little One?"_**

**_Aria's smile stretches bigger. "I like it."_**

**_*End of flashback*_**

The video tapes and shirt equals two presents, but Spencer really wants something else. She feels like two just… _isn't enough_.

So, she goes downstairs to where her mom is doing some work on her laptop.

"Maaaammmmaaaa…"

Veronica tries to hide her smile. Spencer likes to act as if she is all grownup, but at the end of the day, her little girl is still just 11 years old. So, she shuts the laptop and places her glasses on top, before turning to look at her daughter.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I think I want to get Aria another present, but I don't know what to get her! I've thought about it and thought about it, and nothing seems good enough. This is our first Christmas together, and I want it to be perfect!"

Veronica bites her tongue at the _I'm pretty sure just spending Christmas with you will make it perfect_, because she knows Aria adores Spencer just as much as her daughter adores the artist.

Instead, she places her hands on Spencer's shoulders and makes the suggestion of, "Why don't we get her something you two can share?"

Spencer scrunches up her eyebrows, her nose wrinkling in the process. Veronica thinks she looks adorable but would _never_ actually _say_ that…

"Like what, Mom? We already have matching shirts, that we share."

Veronica nods her head, smiling a bit, saying, "I was thinking something along the lines of… maybe a charm bracelet. You already have one, but how about we get Aria one, as well? You could pick out a few charms you'd think she would like and give that along with your other gifts."

Spencer thinks about it for a moment. She already has a charm bracelet of her own. She received for her tenth birthday, and since then, for birthdays and Christmases, she has gotten charms as her presents.

It would be something for Aria that she could customize all on her. Things like a paint palette and brush maybe, and definitely her birthday, and maybe even matching 'BFF' charms, and oh, a little piggy charm because Aria's favorite animals are pigs.

The more she thinks, the more excited she gets. Veronica smiles in amusement as her daughter's inside excitement bleeds out of her and she begins bouncing up and down on the heels of her feet.

"I take it the answer would be a 'yes'?" She teases and Spencer nods enthusiastically. "Well, then, I need to make a call to Miss Ella, to make sure it is ok we get Aria such an expensive present, but if she says yes, then how about we go in a couple of hours?"

"Okay, Mama! I'm going to go shower and get dressed, just in case!"

She rushes up the stairs not even hearing Veronica yell out 'no running on the stairs!'. Once the phone is made – which Ella agreed happily, and even asked to come along because there is a couple of charms she would like to but for Aria, herself, – Veronica gets dressed, braids Spencer's hair, and then two head to the mall in Philly.

* * *

**_*2 hours later – Philly mall*_**

"Hi, Miss Ella!" Spencer greets as she climbs out of the backseat.

"Good morning, Spencer. Are you excited for Winter Break?"

"Yep! I hope it snows because I really want to make a snowman."

They head inside and go to JC Penney. After making sure they still have bracelets and plenty of charms to choose from, Veronica lets Spencer go about looking at them. Surprisingly, they find a bracelet that is identical to the one she has so all they need to do is pick out the charms.

"I know she loves to draw, Mama," Spencer says not really speaking _to_ Veronica as much as she is just thinking aloud. "So I think we should get her something that is artsy."

The salesclerk, who has been standing by in case she is needed, speaks up, "Miss, you may find what you are looking over here," She points to a certain area of charms. "This has things like a pencil, pad of paper, art easel, paintbrush, etc."

"Oh, thank you!"

There are several different types of charms, in sizes and different colors. Pencils, pads paper, a painter's hat, a paint palette, both colored and black and white, a brush, a calligraphy pen, scissors, a ruler, etc.

All things an artist might need. In the end, Spencer gets the colored paint palette, brush, and painter's hat.

"Miss Ella, Ari's birthstone is diamond, right? Because she was born in April." Spencer asks just to be sure. She knows all her cousins' birthstones as well as her own, her parents', and Melissa's stone.

Ella confirms this and shows Spencer the little diamond pendant charm that she is going to buy herself. They look at the rest of the charms, and Spencer chooses two 'BFF' charms, one for her, one for Aria, as well as an _S_ and an _A_ for both girls.

In the end, between Spencer and Ella, they have nine charms. They are going to give Aria 5 plus the bracelet for Christmas. The other four will be given to her four months from now, in April, for her birthday. Spencer also picked out two charms for herself.

Spencer can barely contain herself as they walk out of JC Penney to go to the food court for lunch. She is so excited and can't wait to see Aria's face when she opens up the bracelet. She loves getting charms for her own bracelet and she really hopes Aria will enjoy hers just as much.

* * *

_**9 days later – December 23**__**rd**__**, 2001**_

* * *

**_*Hastings Residence*_**

Today is a big day. While Aria has met nearly all of Spencer's cousins, mostly back in November on Thanksgiving, she has yet to meet one particular girl.

Alison Dilaurentis.

She thinks she should be worried or many nervous to meet Alison. She has never met anyone who is as… mean?

She's unsure of the right word.

Alison did sound mean, though, by what Spencer's cousin Hanna said she did.

But she has never met anyone that acts or acted like Ali supposedly does. And she is sure, even at just 11, that Logan, Alexander, and Steven would never do anything as bad as to lock a kid with Autism (or any kid, for that matter) in a locker. _Especially_ at the end of the day when the kid could be locked in there for hours.

So, she wonders, as she sits in Spencer's window seat while her best friend is getting ready in the bathroom, why does she not feel nervous? If she were to face the boys without Spence with her, she would be scared.

But not with Ali.

Not with someone who teases her siblings, picks on them, bullies kids at school…

It just does not make sense.

And that is exactly what she tells Spencer when the older girl asks if everything is ok.

"Well, you know," Spencer hops onto her bed, in a sweatshirt/sweatpants outfit, hair brushed out and still wet, "Sometimes, she really _is_ nice. Sometimes she is nice to Izzy and Hadley, and she plays dress up with them. And sometimes, she helps AJ or Kai with their homework. And sometimes, we can watch movies together and she does not try to start a fight."

Aria nods. Yeah, _that_ is what she is thinking of right now. Even though she has never met Alison, and Spencer mostly talks about how mean or rude or annoying she is, and even with that story from Hanna about what Ali did to the little boy with Autism…

Even _after_ all of that, Aria just cannot bring herself to be nervous about meeting her.

Is that weird?

She wonders this aloud, and Spencer just smiles.

"No, it isn't weird, Ar. It just means you want to find the good in people, even after you only hear the bad stuff. It's sweet, and it is what makes you a good person."

Aria ducks her head at this, trying to hide her blush. A few minutes later, Aria has to ask.

Because it would be mighty embarrassing if the Dilaurentises showed up and she can't remember.

"Um… Spencer?" The two are drawing with Aria's art supplies. They are doing new "name" drawings, this time in Christmas colors. They are going to be for Melissa, Veronica, and Peter.

"Yeah, Ar?"

"Can you, um… Could you tell me your cousins' names again?" She sighs in irritation at her timid tone. This is Spencer she is talking to! There is no need to be embarrassed or timid around Spencer! "I-I mean, I didn't forget or anything!" She rushes to explain. "I-It's just… A lot of names to remember, ya'know?"

But Spencer just smiles and nods, seeming to not be put-out at all. She is even eager as she hops off her bed, and walks to her bookshelf, where she grabs a photo album. She comes back to the bed, hopping up and bouncing a little when she lands in a seated position, making Aria giggle at her goofiness.

"Okay, so I am going to go youngest to oldest." Aria nods to this. "Now, I don't know if we told you or not on Thanksgiving, but all of my cousins from Aunt Jess and Uncle Ken are twins!"

Aria's eyes widen. She did not, in fact, know this. She just thought a couple of the Dilaurentis kids were super close in age, like a year apart or something. Obviously, Hanna and Ali are twins, she was told so, and Hadley and Isabella, but the others?

Wow!

Spencer responds to Aria's expression with, "Yeah! It's cool and weird at the same time. People joke about how they need to stop having kids because they will never _not_ have twins. It is so funny when they go to restaurants, and people ask how old they are, and are told they are all twins!"

After this, they get comfortable on the bed against the pillows. And Spencer begins…

She flips open to a certain page of the album, pointing to two little girls who look similar but are not quite identical twins.

"This is Hadley Joy. And this is Isabella Hope. We call them "Haddie" and "Izzy". They are 5 years old right now, but Izzy was held back to preschool while Haddie is in Kindergarten."

The two little girls resemble their parents closely. Like all the Dilaurentis girls, Hadley and Isabella have blonde hair – Hadley's is curly while Izzy's is not – and both have dark blue eyes. Haddie is freckled while Izzy is not, and they both have dimples.

They are about the same height and seem to both enjoy wearing girly dresses, hair bows, and little kids jewelry like bracelets, necklaces, and clip on earrings.

"Next are Ashton and Malachi. They are nine years old. See?" She points to two little boys that – _wow!_ – could not be more identical if they tried. Same brown hair, same green eyes, same dimples in the same exact place on their cheeks, they are even what seems to be the same exact height. The only difference?

"Woah!" Aria whispers. "How do you tell them apart?!"

Spencer chuckles.

"Oh, it is not easy! But, look." She points to that one difference. The one thing that sets these two little boys apart. "AJ _always_ wears this bracelet with his name on it on his left wrist. It is blue and green. And Malachi? He always wears _his_ bracelet on his right wrist. It is black and brown."

"Also," She adds, "he goes by Malachi except for by my mom. We don't know why, but only his Aunt Veronica is allowed to call him "Kai". AJ is in the fourth grade, but Kai skipped and is in the fifth grade."

"Wow! He must be really smart."

"He is," Spencer nods, adopting an proud older cousin expression. "He learned to read when he was only four, and he could do fifth grade math when he was only in the third grade, which is why Aunt Jess and Uncle Ken let him skip the fourth grade. But, he is also like the baby of the family, for the boys. He loves for Aunt Jess and Uncle Ken to tuck him in at night, and he likes to sit close to you on the couch, and share a blanket, and he _loves_ playing with action figures, Legos, and things like that."

"Well, my brother likes that, too. They would probably be best friends! Mikey loves getting a new box of Legos; he could spend hours in the playroom building with them!"

"I think if Mike and my cousin Malachi ever met, they would be like long-lost brothers." Spencer says, laughing a bit.

"Well, maybe we can spend Christmas together so they can meet!"

Aria is so enthusiastic about it that Spencer can't help but smile, big and dopey. She hopes that she can spend Christmas Eve _and_ Day with Aria, but is unsure if the Montgomerys have something planned with their own family, therefore meaning the two cannot see each other for the next several days.

Shaking her head to clear it of that thought, Spencer flips a couple more pages of the photo album.

"Next are Ali and Hanna. You met Hanna at Thanksgiving."

She points to two girls – blonde hair, blue eyes, dimples, and similar looking.

Drawing from memory, Aria points to one girl, "That is Hanna, right? I remember she had curly hair."

Spencer knows it may sound dumb, but…

The fact that Aria paid enough attention for that?

To be able to tell her cousins apart instead of just saying, _wow! That's a lot of names, I don't think I should really try to tell them apart._

Trying to hide her smile, Spencer nods. "Yep. Ali usually wears her hair straight and down while Han's is curly. They are both 12 and in the sixth grade, like us. But they live several hours away, which is why we only see them on Holidays or in the Summer."

Aria is quiet for several moments. Spencer can tell the younger girl has something on her mind but is probably afraid to ask. She is shy like that, but Spence is helping her with it.

She waits for about two minutes, but when Aria is still silent, she says, "What's on your mind, Little-Big One?" And the tiny artist sighs heavily.

"Do you think she regrets what she did last month? To that boy, Taylor?"

Now it's Spencer's turn to be quiet. She has a pensive look on her face and Aria fears that she may have stepped over a boundary she is not know about, or maybe asked a question that Spencer would rather not have to answer, because, maybe, she is not actually looking forward to Alison coming over, or perhaps, she does not care whether Alison understands that what she did was incredibly stupid.

"I don't know," Spencer finally sighs out. "I really, really don't, Ar, but I hope so. I hope that Ali is not just a bad person who like bullying other kids or people. I hope that, one day, Ali changes, because I think I would like to be her best friend, instead of her being my cousin who I do not talk to because of her past actions and choices."

Aria reaches over, taking her hand, trying to fight off the blush that warms her cheeks as she notices how _well_ their hands fit together, and also wondering, _why the heck am I thinking about that?_

"I hope she does, too. I would like to her friend." Aria watches as a smile grows on the older girl's face. "If she likes me," She rushes to add after a second thought. And Spencer frowns at that, knowing she has to tell Aria the truth.

"I don't know if she will like you."

It is _definitely_ not something she wants to say, but…

"And I don't mean because you are an unlikable person, just that, well…"

"She's Alison?"

Spencer sighs at that.

"Yeah, 'cause she is Alison."

Spencer goes over the next several cousins she has – Charlotte and Vivian, who are 16, and then Jason and Mason, who, yeah, have rhyming names.

Aria cannot contain her giggles as she asks, "Why?" Because she is laughing so hard that she is unable to put together a full sentence. Spencer gives in, laughing, as well, saying,

"Yeah, Aunt Jess and Uncle Ken hates their names – well, actually, they do not hate their names, but they do regret giving them names that rhyme like that. They wish they would have done something like Jason Matthew and James Mason, or maybe Jason and Matthew or Mason and Matthew, which would not be any better, because their start with the same letter, but, ya'know, it would be better than _Jason_ and _Mason_."

Aria asks questions, Spencer tells stories, and they both laugh their heads off at some of the crazy things her aunts, uncles, or cousins have done over the years. By the time they are finished, lunch is ready, and they go downstairs to eat.

* * *

**I am going to end it there because the next chapter has Alison in it and I really want her interactions with everyone separate.**

**Please review and let me know what you thought!**


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